Mining- Solutions
LIBS chemical sensing applications in the mining and minerals industry The mining industry is faced with an increasing scarcity of natural resources. At the same me, the global demand for resources keeps growing and the requirement to reduce the environmental footprint of mining becomes more important. This creates the need to develop innova ve solu ons that increase the
Example of part
efficiency and sustainability of mining natural
of the output of
resources.
a drill core scan (warmer colors are
Mining opera ons deal with huge quan
higher concentrations)
es of
excavated material with varying mineral concentra ons and economic value. Increased knowledge about the composi on of this material provides opportuni es to improve decision making for stockpiling, sor ng, and mineral processing. However, no systems currently exist that can be used to measure the chemical composi on of large material
several different elements and for some
(fast) moving raw material. The sensor
es in real- me. LIBS chemical sensor
minerals the rela ve quan ty of these
features our unique IRIS spectrometer with
technology provides a solu on, because no
elements can vary. Depending on the size of
world-class signal-to-noise (S/N) ra o, rugged
quan
sample prepara on is required and
the mineral grains, a single LIBS measurement
pulse laser source and highly efficient op cs.
measurements can be performed at rela vely
can represent one or several minerals.
The design allows for flexible integra on into
high speeds. At SPECTRAL Industries we work together with
Development of advanced data processing
industrial equipment and can be mounted in
techniques is therefore required in order to
any orienta on. Suitable for a wide range of
provide quan ta ve composi onal
environmental condi ons, it offers low
the mining industry to develop LIBS-based
informa on that meets the required accuracy.
maintenance cost and improves processes by
sensor applica ons for the mining
Addi onally, calibra ons need to be tailored to
delivering real- me informa on. SPECTRAL
environment. Examples of applica ons are in-
the geological se ng of a specific mineral
delivers its unique sensor systems for the
line conveyor belt analysis, scanning exposed
deposit to take all the varia on between rock
following applica ons:
rock surfaces (see Figure 1) and scanning drill
types and mineralogy into account.
chips from blasthole drilling. Addi onally, we
•
Drill core scanning
•
Rock surface mapping
also work on applica ons that improve the
The results obtained using LIBS chemical
•
Drill cu ngs analysis
explora on for new mineral deposits such as
sensing on ore samples from ac ve mining
•
Ore, concentrate and slag
•
Muck pile characteriza on
the scanning of drill cores (see Figure 2). We
opera ons show that LIBS can be used to
develop the best LIBS sensor for a specific
provide the informa on that is needed to
applica on using our in-depth exper se of
improve the efficiency and sustainability of
lasers, spectrometers and data processing.
future mining.
characteriza on
The LIBX sensor can be applied for automated ore sor ng, that separates valuable from
One of the major challenges of using LIBS for
SPECTRAL Industries is a new chemical sensor
non-valuable rocks to prevent unnecessary
characterizing the mineral quan ty in rocks is
developer and manufacturer, with a focus on
cost for processing worthless ore and
the heterogeneity of this material. Rocks are
applica ons in the mining and minerals
maximize return on investment. The
composed of many different minerals with
industry. SPECTRAL's chemical sensors are
technology is highly scalable as the hardware
various grain sizes. Each mineral consists of
robust, mobile & fast: they can be applied on
is suitable for any type of ore and materials.
www.africamininginsight.co.za
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