Hands-on testing and sorting
TOMRA is the leading ore sorting provider in the country, offering the only full-scale, indoor test centre for prospective customers to get hands-on with ore sorting and learn about TOMRA’s unique technology and sensors.
In the past few years TOMRA’s XRT technology has evolved from being able to just scan rocks down to an incredibly small detail of just 0.8mm, when just a few years ago 4mm was considered an impressive feat for the technology.
Ore soring is an increasingly prominent way for mine sites to maximise recovery and improve their processes.
In recent years a wide array of sensor technologies has emerged, each tailored to a different mineral or sorting application.
TOMRA has a range of highly advanced and automated sorting machines that utilise a number of different sensor technologies such as LASER, x-ray, infra-red, electromagnetic and colour that are able to sort ore before entering a processing stream.
TOMRA’s LASER and XRT technologies are able to achieve higher and higher resolutions of material as it goes through the machine at higher and higher speeds.
These and other technologies are at the forefront of mineral separation technology.
XRT scanning, possibly the most common type of ore scanning technology in mining applications, scans the internal mineralogy of the rock in minute detail, with X-ray penetration with the unique ability to show the makeup of particles within the rock.
LASER scanning is another popular method, particularly for the identification and subsequent grading of quartz or gold-bearing quartz via the diffusion, dispersion and diffraction of the LASER light through the material.
When implemented and operated correctly, ore sorting machines can greatly improve plant efficiency, reducing downstream crushing requirements and costs, and resulting in much improved grades.
It can even benefit the operator’s carbon footprint since waste is rejected at an early stage, which in turn reduces the need to tailings treatment.