Materials handling 156,000t CO2 saved by
TOMRA sorting machines in 2020.
TOMRA Sorting Mining
Rather than detecting the gold itself, which is difficult as the gold inclusions involved are fairly small, sensor sorters are instead used to detect the trace elements that cling to the gold – sulphides in particular – and from there increase the concentration. “It’s a very easy process: you use a front-end
loader, size it to within a narrow size band and put it through the sensor sorter, and then you have a preconcentrated product,” Bracher explains. This can even help extend a mine’s lifespan, helping to bring down mining and extraction costs when operations and grades are declining, and thereby optimising the operation.
production per tonne of product throughout the entire process – this is hugely important, given that the mining industry is responsible for between 4–7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. “TOMRA sorting machines in mining saved 156,000t of CO2
in 2020.
That’s a huge amount and that really makes an impact.” With all this in mind, then, it’s clear that using sensor sorters offers a number of benefits – not enough to solve all of the issues facing the industry, but certainly enough to make an impact. “It offers a very broad range of ways in which to tackle the environmental footprints of a mine,” says Robben. “A lot of technologies will address one issue. This goes a long way towards addressing five, six or seven potential issues.”
Implementation in the industry Yet, despite these benefits, the industry has been relatively slow to adopt this technology, though this has started to change in the past few years. There are a variety of reasons for this hesitancy – any solution, no matter how well tailored or designed, will inevitably create some problems of its own. “It’s in the early stages of implementation,” Bracher says, explaining the industry’s slow adoption of sensor sorters with a note of caution. “Some sites have implemented it and it’s been a little bit mixed. A lot of the reasons for the difficulties is dust control. It’s a tough environment and sensor sorters are a very sophisticated piece of equipment. You have to maintain them and operate them, and there’s [often] no one in the traditional mine site maintenance staff who can do that.”
Despite his wariness, Bracher acknowledges that sensor sorters have seen an increased
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As the battle against climate change continues, few minerals are more precious than those being used to bolster renewable energy initiatives – most notably graphite, lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are all vital for energy storage in both electric vehicle batteries and power grid stabilisation. “Mining is a huge consumer of energy, but on the other hand, it is the supplier of the future. So, it’s kind of it’s a double role,” Robben says, acknowledging that conflict. Preconcentration reduces waste, energy costs and CO2
acceptance in the industry over the past few years, which he attributes to a handful of reasons. “It’s relatively reliable, it’s become a little bit more robust [...] people are beginning to understand where it can be used and where it’s probably not the most effective,” he explains. “And the other big advantage is that it’s very connected. So, very often, you can do a lot of maintenance and fault-finding remotely. And that makes a massive difference in that you can respond very quickly and often get an operation up and running much faster.” Robben, on the other hand, is more bullish on the value of these technologies, arguing that we have long surpassed the early stages of sensor-based ore sorting. “It’s an established technique in the mining industry. It’s not trial and error anymore. It’s not in the pilot phase – it’s robust,” she says, keen to emphasise that point. “It’s still innovative. But the reason why it’s still innovative is probably because the mining industry is relatively conservative.” And there’s the rub. As the mining industry faces further challenges from the effects of global warming, rising material costs and having to cast its net further afield for new viable sites, the risks are often judged to outweigh the rewards when it comes to innovation. And with technologies that wear their green credentials proudly on their sleeve, the industry often sees them foremost as a means of addressing their environmental responsibilities, rather than as a financial asset. For Robben, however, this misses the true value that sensor sorters can offer the industry. “I think it’s important to highlight that both benefits go hand in hand. The mining industry will have increased economic benefits if it focuses on environmental aspects,” she says, noting that the industry won’t make environmental purchases without an economic reason to do so. “We’re not aiming to paint the whole industry green and then make it less profitable – it needs to go hand in hand. “Climate change is a trivial subject in the 21st century – you cannot go around that. There’s a policy and legislation push, there’s a customer awareness. On the other hand, to transform, the industry needs to deliver the primary resources. And the demand on the primary resources is increasing – we need to have a lot of copper to build a windmill. So, the green technologies need more primary resources than the black [fossil fuel technologies].” Ultimately, the industry will only really invest in sustainable technologies if there is enough of a financial incentive to do so. It’s not enough to merely list the environmental benefits of technologies like sensor-based sorters – any new solution needs to be both commercially viable and sustainable. Uniting those two threads must be the first step in untangling the industry’s knot of issues. ●
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
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