Good news from Steinert and TOMRA- leaders in the development of sensor-based sorters

It is ironic that sorting, once a major method of concentrating ores by hand, became effectively redundant, but is now enjoying a very strong resurgence thanks to high speed computers which allow pre-concentration of ores at very high rates, reducing comminution energy and water costs. 

Not too long ago little thought was given to water conservation, apart from recycling where possible, and although it was well known that mineral processing, particularly comminution, was a massive consumer of energy this was just accepted as a fact of life and no real efforts were made to attempt to minimise consumption. Now it is realised that conservation of water and energy is not just desirable, but is essential, and every effort is being made to mitigate consumption in these areas. 

Rejection of gangue at as coarse a size as possible is critical and pre-concentration within the crushing circuit aims at reducing the amount of material fed to the energy-hungry grinding circuit. Heavy medium separation has been used for years on ores which are amenable to this, such as tin and lead-zinc ores, and coal. The range of ores which can be pre-concentrated has been dramatically increased in recent years with the development of sensor-based electronic sorting, a completely dry process originally used for the concentration of diamond ores, but now being used in many other areas, due to modern sensors which can rapidly detect a range of physical properties, including grade of particles.

Sensor-based electronic sorting thus has a major role to play ins sustainability, and we welcome one of the leading players in this field, Steinert, who provide not only electronic sorters, but, since 1889, magnetic and eddy current separators, as a sponsor of Sustainable Minerals '23.

Current Sustainable Minerals '23 sponsors

TOMRA Mining also designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting technologies for the global mineral processing and mining industries, and a new, free-to-download publication outlines the different ways today’s advanced digital sorting data services can help mining operations stay in control at all times, take quicker action when necessary, and build a stronger collaboration across teams and departments.

Sensor-based sorting machines inspect every single piece of material that passes through the processing line, collecting a wealth of data. The digitalization of sorting-related services is opening up a world of new possibilities. The new e-book, titled ‘The Benefits of Data-driven Quality Control’, which can be downloaded free-of-charge, focuses on how to efficiently produce high-quality product with maximum control and minimum waste.

From a quality management perspective, every sensor in the sorters is a valuable source of information about the products that pass through them. Today’s sorting data services turn sorters into connected devices and provide a secure, near-live monitoring dashboard for the mine’s sorting lines. Mining processors are able to continuously monitor and optimize the sorting line’s output quality. 

On-site observation, manual sampling and time-consuming reporting and communication become a thing of the past:  the sorter itself provides a constant feed of information based on continuous product sampling on every object. The standard approach of regularly checking metrics on individual machines provides ‘snapshots’ of the situation at specific moments in time, but do not provide a complete overview. The continuous access to quality data across machines, lines, processes and plants put mineral processors in control all the time. Machine operators are able to move fast as required, responding to changes in material composition on the line to ensure consistently high quality of the product. 

A modern sorting data platform can be a powerful quality management tool by turning the data into actionable information by processing, enriching and visualizing it in easy-to-read graphs, creating customized reports and comparisons that provide valuable insights. Automatically recorded, remotely accessible, objective data sets are available on any computer or mobile device, easily accessible by all members of the team, streamlining information sharing and collaboration. Managers can monitor remotely distant or difficult-to-reach mining sites from their offices, enabling them to make operational and business decisions based on experience and hard facts, also comparing and benchmarking data from different sites. 

All these features enable mineral processors to optimize their decision-making and efficiency, ultimately increasing the profitability of their operation. These benefits are accessible through TOMRA Insight, the cloud-based data platform available to TOMRA machine users as a subscription-based service.