PROCESSING

Sotkamo starts ore sorting trial

Sotkamo Silver has started an ore sorting trial at its silver mine in eastern Finland which it expects will significantly increase the purity of the ore going into processing.

Processing cells at the Sotkamo Silver mine where the XRT technology trial is taking place

Processing cells at the Sotkamo Silver mine where the XRT technology trial is taking place

The trial started in May after the ore sorter was supplied and commissioned at the mine by Outotec and Tomra. 

The facility uses X-Ray Transmission (XRT) technology to scan every feed particle and identify the relative atomic density differences within particles. High-grade particles are then pneumatically separared from the unwanted material. 

The sorting process occurs after primary crushing and it is expected to reduce the amount of non-ore going into the grinding and flotation processes by about 50%, thus increasing the energy efficiency.

Leftover barren material is used as rock-fill in the underground mine.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Automation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations using autonomous solutions in every region and sector, including analysis of the factors driving investment decisions

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2023 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of current exploration rates, trending exploration technologies, a ranking of top drill intercepts and a catalog of 2022 Initial Resource Estimates and recent discovery successes.