NORDIC TECHNOLOGY
The latest IMACON 100 on-line slurry analysers can be equipped with a more compact XRF Probe for size-constrained operations and the option for a containerbased installation, IMA says
The collaborative approach
Innovators in the Nordic region have long advocated for collaboration when it comes to developing new technology. This approach continues to pay off when developing and applying innovation, Dan Gleeson reports
IMA Engineering is a well-known name in Nordic mining circles and, of late, has become globally recognised thanks to a recent tie-up with Caterpillar and its Cat ® Precision Mining initiative.
With an offering that goes from exploration drill core all the way through to potential tailings reprocessing via X-ray Fluorescence( XRF)-based sensing solutions, it has a hand in most parts of the mining lifecycle.
For Jukka Raatikainen, CEO of IMA Engineering, one of the obvious places to start XRF-based analysis is at the very end of the process to identify ore from material previously deemed as waste.
“ If we were to plot the price of, say, copper against the average copper cutoff grade over several decades, it is easy to see an inverse correlation,” he told IM.“ Even with inflation, what was considered waste in the past is very much considered to be‘ ore’ today.”
Raatikainen says recovering ore-fromwaste is already both economic and“ riskfree” as there is no penalty associated with“ losing ore” from material already classified as waste.
He added:“ On waste piles there is no mining cost, only materials handling costs; loading, primary crushing and sorting, which are much lower that virgin ore mining costs, further lowering the cutoff grade for the ore recovered from waste.”
He sees the potential for bulk ore sorting IMA Engineering can partly facilitate – through its Fast Conveyor Analyzer( FCA) and diverter solution – being complemented
54 by the involvement of contractors able to crush and grind the material without obstructing the mine operation.
This vision looks like becoming a reality, with Raatikainen confirming the company has engaged Tapojärvi in a cooperative arrangement for such bulk ore sorting projects.
Tapojärvi is another Nordic mining leader, having carried out mining contracts on behalf of major clients like Outokumpu, Kaunis Iron, Yara and more. It has also recently established a circularity-focused product family under TapoEko. These products are based on industrial“ side streams”, having a smaller carbon footprint compared with similar products on the market.
Together the pair are working together in the Nordic region, with the companies viewing old mine waste material as a potential new ore source as well as useful recycling material for mine infrastructure like roads.
“ Naturally, Tapojärvi has material handling equipment( mobile conveyors, etc) and loading machines, and they are responsible for this part of the project,” Raatikainen explained.
The two companies are currently preparing to showcase this offering in a trial setup at a project where IMA’ s FCA will be used in tandem with a diverter gate able to sort 200-400 t / h of material, with Tapojärvi providing the material handling elements.
IMA also plans to test this type of waste sorting solution out later this year on a mine in Europe as part of the EU Horizon 2020 AVANTIS project.
AVANTIS’ rationale is that Europe has a multitude of unexploited, low-grade vanadium-bearing titanomagnetite deposits in Finland, Sweden, Greenland, Norway, Poland and Ukraine, which, due to a complex“ spiderweb-like” mineral assemblage, require a new approach.
“ Without selective blasting, selective fragmentation and pre-concentration technologies to separate the Ti-rich ilmenite grains from the V-bearing magnetite, these deposits are not economically viable,” the project organisers say.“ Supported by a bespoke forensic geometallurgy, AVANTIS will develop a novel selective-blasting approach that allows for rock excavation with increased mineral liberation at the blasting stage, and reduced energy demand in the crushing and grinding stages. Likewise, AVANTIS designs tailored, waterfree and water-lean pre-concentration technologies that can produce two distinct pre-concentrates:( 1) ilmenite-rich, Ti-preconcentrate and( 2) ilmenite-free, V-preconcentrate.”
IMA will lead the bulk ore sorting part of this project, developing a selective process feed optimisation strategy by removing waste rock entering the energy- and resource-intensive downstream processes, which will reduce energy demand in the crushing and grinding phase and the corresponding greenhouse gas intensity of metal extraction.
In another Horizon 2020 project – the DeepBEAT H2020 project – IMA is exploring the potential for adding laser induced breakdown spectroscopy( LIBS) sensing technology to its existing XRF-backed base to enhance and expedite mineral exploration.
Outside of this, Raatikainen was keen to mention developments with the company’ s IMACON 100 on-line slurry analyser platform: an XRF-powered solution designed for elemental analysis in mineral beneficiation circuits.
The latest IMACON 100 on-line slurry analyser version deliveries have started in 2025 to South America and Asia, with Raatikainen highlighting the addition of a more compact XRF Probe for sizeconstrained operations and the option for a container-based installation.
“ The IMACON system has continued to evolve,” he said.“ Some 5-10 years ago, it was able to offer a detection speed of tens of thousands of counts per second, whereas the latest units being delivered can measure up to several 100,000 counts per second. This, of course, allows you to make
International Mining | MAY 2025