PR RE-CONCENTRA TI
ON AND ORE SORTING
The RADOS’ XRF + DCA( Drill Core Analyser) is assisting RADOS clients developing copper
, uranium and precious metals projects, the company says
true particle-by-particle XRF + sorters as a scavenging stage optimises both throughput and valuable metal recoveries.”
Considering the integrated ore sorting approach early on in not only the mining process, but also during critical initial project development stages with the RADOS’ XRF + DCA( Drill Core Analyser) has assisted RADOS clients developing copper, uranium and precious metals projects, according to the company
.
This is characterised in the XRF + DCA ore sorting amenability report, which delivers sorting performance results at different bulk and particle sorting increments( 10 mm to multiple meters) from rapid scanning of the full drill core library, which unlocks the energy and water saving at a prefeasibility stage, Rados added.
In a uranium project context, the RADOS XRF + DCA could provide up to 45 % mass rejection from bulk ore sorting maintaining a > 80 % U 3O 8 recovery. Further integrated particle sorting could increase the U 3O 8 recovery to > 98 %, the company claims.
In copper( and polymetallic) applications, the main advantage is to accurately predict the rejection performance of calcium- and
magnesium-bearing minerals, which are high acid consuming minerals impeding the efficiency of downstream leaching and solvent extraction processess.
COMEX offers‘ complete particle penetration’
COMEX says its new multi-sensory sorting solutions, powered by AI models, are the most promising solutions for demanding applications like pre-concentration of critical material ores.
The new system contains sensors such as Xray, optical RGB in visible light, hyperspectral SWIR in infrared, XRF and gamma in the same sorting unit, allowing maximum analysis and identification efficiency for differentiating sorted materials.
The new XRT-RGB sorting detectors can provide a very efficient pre-concentration solution for copper and gold ores, according to the company. It can also provide similar advantages for the sorting of other ores with low metal concentrations.“ The detection system( new XRT system) allows complete particle penetration and identification of small ore inclusions smaller than 50 μm, combining them in smart models with results from other sensors operating on the particle surface only,” the company explains.“ This brings an enormous advantage over the current sorting equipment( standard XRT sensors or other single sensing techniques) and consequently eliminates metal recovery losses when pre-concentrating particles in disseminated ores.”
The solution has been succ essfully tested and applied to pre-concentration of various ores like gold, copper, silver, nickel, tin, zinc and lead, as well as different REE ores, COMEX says.
Serabi Gold in Brazil is one successful application story here.
A sensor-based sorting solution from COMEX – Serabi’ s second – commenced operations in 2024 at its Coringa project. A spokesperson for Serabi explained that the ore sorter being used is a COMEX OCXR-1000 model. Th is sorting unit is manufactured to sort a feed fraction of + 15 mm /- 45 mm, with a maximum volume of 30-40 t / h. The stated maximum rejection rate is approximately 35 % and it operates at a maximum belt speed of 3 m / s
.
The COMEX OCXR-1000 is equipped for both X- ray sorting and colour sorting, with the latter using a 4K RGB camera. The whole unit at Coringa is within a single 13,500 x 3,500 x 2,900 mm( length / width / height) size envelope.
Serabi Gold said it is using ore sorters to remove waste and pre-concentrate run of mine material, as well as to liberatee plant capacity. It noted the Coringa ore was highly amenable to ore sorting, with the company having carried out geological and metallurgical reviews and“ pre-
, some 200
tested” its use at its Palito Complex km from Coringa.
From 2020 to mid-2024, Palito had fed 40,891 t of material at 1.7 g / t Au through the same ore sorting system. This generated
4,899 t of product at 8.8 g / t Au, with 35,992 t at 0.5-0.7 g / t Au rejected, being below the cutoff grade.
Coringa is viewed as a low-risoperation, being a“ carbon copy” of Palito,, low-cost
according to Serabi Gold. Palito was set to produce 38,000-40,000 oz of gold in 2024 from an operation made up of an underground selective open stoping mine, a
600 t / d conventional flotation, carbon-in-pulp, ore sorting operation. Coringa, meanwhile, is set to use a classification plant made up of a crusher and ore sorter to produce 38,000 oz / y of gold through an integrated flowshe eet. IM
The whole sorting unit at Coringa is within a single 13,500 x 3,500 x 2,900 mm( length / width / height) size envelope
APR IL 2025 | International Mining 75