NORDIC FOCUS
Nordic nous
The Nordic region ’ s reputation for innovation has continued to grow in the last year as its equipment manufacturers and suppliers leverage centuries of mining experience as well as a prevalent ‘ green ’ mindset to bring new technology and concepts to the market
The mining supply market out of the Nordic region plays a crucial role in decarbonising the global industry ; its domestic mineral processing entities provide the energy-efficient comminution and flotation solutions the industry requires , plus its mobile equipment makers ensure ore and waste are moved with minimal emissions .
Add to this an abundance of equipment and process support companies that call the region home , and it is easy to make a case for the Nordic region being one of the most important METS powerhouses around the world .
Putting the intelligence into AI
As the industry continues to focus on automation , increased levels of digitalisation and the potential for incorporating artificial intelligence ( AI ) into this mix to further increase operational efficiencies , Finland-based IMA Engineering is continuing to stress the need to obtain accurate and representative data across mining operations .
“ Everybody talks about AI and automation , but they appear to forget that the intelligence that is generated from this is only as good as the data that is fed into it ,” Ilpo Auranen , Chairman of IMA , told IM .
Auranen was more than willing to provide an example here : “ In underground drill hole sampling , many operations employ personnel to scoop up a sample from the drill hole , place it in a bucket and pass it down the line for another person to re-handle and create a sub-sample that is placed into a bag . With every sample interaction , the representativeness of the sample decreases , meaning that the total error increases . In the process , this leads to costly ore losses and waste rock dilution .
“ Inputting such data into an AI algorithm that looks across the whole operation is only going to speed up what is already a flawed process .”
Through projects such as the EU-backed IlluMINEation project , IMA is promoting the use of automated sampling and analysis processes that reduce this variability and increase the reliability – adding a more consistent layer of data to the set used for AI algorithm generation .
The IMA Autosampler is key to this and is being tested at underground mine sites in Finland , Spain and Austria ( the RHI Magnesita mine ) as part of IlluMINEation .
“ In underground drilling , you can often have 80-90 % water and 10-20 % rock in your samples ,” Auranen explains . “ Handling what is effectively sludge in a representative way is a challenge , but we have managed to come up with a solution where we can sample and analyse this material on any underground development or production drills .”
Another area of IMA ’ s offering that is becoming increasingly important is ore tracking from the mine to the concentrator , Auranen said .
“ This all comes back to reconciliation ,” he
Through projects such as the EU-backed IlluMINEation project , IMA says it is promoting the use of automated sampling and analysis processes with its IMA Autosampler that reduce this variability and increase the reliability – adding a more consistent layer of data to the set used for AI algorithm generation
said . “ The old industry perception of the reconciliation process was about getting the story straight between the geologist and the process plant manager , but it is now much more than this . Reconciliation is about measuring the characteristics of the material as it passes through the flowsheet and then reacting to this to make sure your operation is optimally calibrated to improve mining , production and recovery in the concentrator .”
By combining data from the company ’ s Fast Conveyor Analyzer ( FCA ) – able to provide XRFbased readings every 10 seconds – with its IMACON 100 on-stream analyser – providing readings every 10-20 minutes – plus leveraging Metso Outotec SmartTag™ RFIDs , the company is able to get feedback across the flowsheet to enable the type of accurate ore tracking representation Auranen highlights .
The third area of mining industry involvement that IMA is highlighting is the ability to optimise the heap leach process – especially in the copper space .
“ This is all about how to best utilise the acids in the process , measuring both copper and carbonate content and finetuning the amount of
10 International Mining | JUNE 2023