Ore Sorting

Ore sorting is a process for upgrading mineral bearing materials at large particle sizes, typically between 150mm and 10mm. Some particularly high value materials justify sorting down to even smaller sizes.

Ore sorting involves evaluating the mineral content of individual rocks as they pass through the ore sorter and separating them into accept and reject fractions, based on predetermined selection criteria.

By providing an economical way to reject sub economic grade materials at large particle sizes, ore sorting is an ideal tool for:

  • Making low grade ore deposits viable to develop
  • Recovering valuable fractions from waste dumps
  • Accelerating cash flow & payback
  • Removing nuisance materials e.g. talc
  • Improving processing plant recoveries & efficiencies
  • Reducing transport & processing costs



Nickel ore sorting installation at Leinster WA


Depending on the size range of the material being sorted Applied Sorting can engineer machines to achieve throughput rates up to 100 tonnes per hour per machine.

Because it is possible to adjust machine sensitivity and the cut-off grade for the accept/reject split, ore sorting machines can generally be fine tuned to suit individual operating requirements e.g. high upgrade ratios or maximum recoveries etc.

The engineers responsible for designing and building Applied Sorting machines have each been in the business for over 30 years. Their machines have demonstrated their durability and value in remote mines in India, Africa, Finland and North America as well as remote parts of Australia.

The latest ore sorting development by Applied Sorting is their x-ray transmission sorter, intended primarily for upgrading the ores of steel alloying elements like tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel, manganese and chromium as well as several other high value materials like tin, bismuth, tantalum etc.

The system generates an x-ray image for each rock as it passes through the sorter and uses high-speed digital image processing to determine the amount of the desired mineral within each rock. It has the advantage of not relying on rock surface information, unlike alternative sensing methods which rely on surface optical fluorescence or light reflectance properties to indicate grade. Instead, it effectively measures the weight of the valuable material contained within each rock and computes the corresponding rock grade.

X-ray transmission sorting is highly effective in ores where the mineralisation occurs as particles or lenses within the rocks being sorted, even if they are only a few mm in size. The x-ray system is able to look inside the rocks, add up the weight of the valuable particles and decide whether a particular rock should be accepted or rejected.

                         

Pilot X-ray ore sorter treating ore from Vital Metals scheelite deposit in far north Queensland.

Applied Sorting can quickly assess the suitability of particular deposits or stockpiles for ore sorting by running trials on small samples of crushed rock or drill core.

For inquiries regarding this topic please contact Applied Sorting Technologies on:
Phone: +61 3 9850 7622
Fax: +61 3 9852 0027

 

 

 


 

    

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