First Mining Drc-Zambia March -April 2020 digital edition First Mining Drc-Zambia March - April 2020 digital | Page 36

FEATURE
TOMRA’s XRT sorting of lumpy chrome ore
delivers high recovery rates and cuts costs
T
he rise in demand for chrome has
been driven in great part by the
China-dominated stainless steel
industry, which represents more than
75% of chromium consumption. South
Africa is a dominant global supplier of
chrome ore and ferrochrome, and the
biggest exporter to China – in 2017,
it accounted for 73% of the country’s
c h r o m e
imports. African chrome mining operations have
been facing the challenge of meeting
this rising demand while dealing with
electricity and price constraints. They
have been expanding into larger-scale
underground and open-cut operations.
These higher-capacity, less selective
mining processes produce greater
amounts of marginal or lower grade
material due to the dilution of the main
ore body.
South This translates into higher costs, as the
traditional methods for separating this
low-chromite content material, such as
Dense Media Separation, cyclones
and spirals, are power and water-
intensive or require costly agents.
TOMRA’s X-Ray Transmission
(XRT)
sensor-based
ore
sorting is an established
technology in physical
separation
that
has
proved
extremely
effective
in
mining
operations for a variety
of minerals, including
chrome.
Its benefits are significant:
less
complexity
in
the
34
process, considerably lower costs,
higher productivity and profitability –
and the added advantage of a lower
environmental impact.
The
X-Ray
sensor
accurately
establishes the density of each particle
in the feed, and high-speed pneumatic
ejectors separate ore with high chromite
content from bare or low-grade ore at
throughputs between 60 and 200 tonnes
per hour.
The resulting output is a high-grade
product that is ready to sell, with no need
for additional comminution.
It is a dry process that requires no water
or reagents, and is frugal in its energy
consumption, resulting in a fraction of
the capital expenditure and running
costs of traditional methods, as well as a
smaller footprint.
TOMRA’s XRT technology
expectations in LG6 mine.
exceeds
Engineering and project management
company P2E Consulting has first-
hand experience of the advantages of
TOMRA’s XRT technology in sorting
chrome ore at Eastern Chrome mines
www.fmdrc-Zambia.com