2018
UNDERGROUND PRODUCTION
The Metso SmartTag team
his induction is for the following four
individuals Michael Wortley 1 , Kai Riihioja 2 ,
Jose Luis Bravo 3 & Rodrigo Sales 4 that
were instrumental in the development of the
Metso SmartTag innovation. The Metso
SmartTag has great potential in tracking ore in
caving applications. However, it also has myriad
applications underground and in surface mining
(particularly in managing fragmentation) and
plant operation. It is a radio frequency
identification (RFID) based technology designed
to allow tracking of ore from its source through
blasting, run-of-mine pads, crushers, intermediate
stockpiles and finally into the concentrator.
T
Successful applications of the SmartTag
system have allowed it to be used in a wider
variety of plants, in particular plants with finer
crushing and screening stages.
This presented Metso with a number of
technological challenges, including RFID tag
and antenna design. By reducing the traditional
RFID tag diameter from 60 mm to 13 mm, the
RFID tags can now successfully pass through a
tertiary crusher. The new smaller RFID tags
(referred to as mini RFID tags) have been used
in some Process Integration and Optimization
(PIO) projects with very promising results.
processing data
• Increased confidence in ore blending
• Proactive process changes for known ore types
• Accurate measurement of residence times in
stockpiles and bins.
Since 2007 there have been significant
advancements with RFID technology that has
allowed PRO to extend the reach of SmartTag
beyond secondary crushing. Mini RFID tags have
been critical to this.
A SmartTag RFID tag travels through a mine
and mineral processing plant in the following
steps:
1. The RFID tag and insertion location is logged
using a hand-held computer or PDA
2. The RFID tag is inserted into the ore (eg into
a blasthole)
3. The RFID tag travels with the ore through
digging, transport and processing
4. The RFID tag is detected at detection
locations (on conveyor belts) and the time
and RFID tag recorded
5. The RFID tag data is loaded into a database
and analysed as required.
To achieve this, the SmartTag system requires
five main components.
The first component in the SmartTag system
is a PDA, which allows the initial RFID tag
insertion process to become more efficient and
accurate. Each RFID tag is added to the
database using one of three options:
1. The RFID tag is associated with a GPS coordinate
2. The RFID tag is associated with a predefined
tag passing the antenna. Later versions of the
readers also have auto-tuning capabilities to
ensure the maximum possible read distance is
achieved at all times. In the SmartTag system
the reader then transmits the ID using serial
communications.
A data logging or buffer stage improves
system reliability and also makes movable
systems possible. The data logger receives data
directly from the RFID reader, stores the IDs
with the time of detection and monitors vital
system parameters, such as the tuning state of
the antenna. The data logging stage also makes
SmartTag less reliant on communication links
(such as wireless) as the data is stored at the
detection point until a link is established to the
software applications. The critical communications
links, like the one between the antenna and the
reader, are all wired and very reliable.
The core of the SmartTag software is an SQL
database. Located on a dedicated server, this
stores all information about the detection
points, detected RFID tags and original locations.
There are several SmartTag software
applications which either input data into the
database or use the data to output information,
including:
• SmartTagServer – reads data from the data
loggers
• SmartTagPDA – exchanges data with the
PDAs and translates site blasthole layout
diagrams
• SmartTagRes – calculates the residence time
between two detection points.
The flow of information between the
database, applications and physical hardware is
shown below:
point (such as a blasthole)
3. The RFID tag is associated with a new point,
The results indicate the miniature RFID tags
have a higher survivability to blasting and
through secondary crushing stages. Extending
ore tracking further through the process allows
more reliable linking of spatial data with time
based process performance. Metso is looking at
developing even smaller RFID tags, and is also
investigating other applications for the
SmartTag system, including ore tracking from
the original source to the final destination.
which can be accurately located later.
At present the system does not allow for high
precision GPS but it can locate the nearest point
in a series of predefined points, such as
blastholes, and allow the user to associate RFID
tags with these points.
Metso’s Process Optimization (PRO) group is
a leader in mineral processing consulting, with a
significant amount of this consulting work
involving PIO studies. This includes investigating
the effects of drill and blast design on
downstream processing. Critical to these
studies is the ability to track specific ore into
and through the plant. Hence the development
of the SmartTag system. The next component in the system, the
antenna, is located at the conveyor belts. The
antenna both induces a charge on the RFID tag
and also receives a transmitted signal back from
the RFID tag. The design of the antenna is
decided by two parameters – size and
robustness. The size of the antenna indictates
the size and the strength of the field it radiates.
For this application the area of field strong
enough to charge the RFID tag should be as
large as possible; therefore, the antenna used
for the SmartTag system is the largest available
for this frequency of RFID system.
The benefits of using SmartTag include:
• Linking spatial mine data to time based An RFID reader then decodes the signal from
the antenna and determines the ID of the RFID
The value delivered by SmartTags has been
further enhanced by the development of an
automated geometallurgy software package
called GeoMetso™. The software package can
automatically combine process and mining data
when a tag is detected. The result of this is
accurate relationships between rock
characteristics and process performance.
Results show significant gains can be made by
planning and feeding the plant based on the
geometallurgical properties, quantified using
GeoMetso, of the ore rather then the traditional
mining parameters.
1. Global Manager – PRO Products, Australia , 2. Senior
Software Engineer, Australia, 3. Senior Instrument
Engineer, Chile, 4. Senior Product Engineer, Brazi l
Supplement International Mining | JUNE 2019 HoF 7