Finnish company Metso Outotec and UK-based Malvern Panalytical have signed a deal to collaborate in the provision of sensor-based ore sorting products.

Both companies have expertise in crushing and bulk material handling. The collaboration will result in "substantially" improved head grade through preconcentration, Metso Outotec said.

"Collaboration with partners like Malvern Panalytical will allow us to meet the industry's increasing sustainability and resource efficiency needs in an enhanced way in the early communition stage," Metso Outotec VP of Digital Technologies Rashmi Kasat said.

"Sensor-based bulk ore sorting and data-driven analysis upgrades low-grade or waste stockpiles, making them economical and far less energy-intensive to treat."

By using bulk ore sorting methods, mining companies are able to eliminate waste rock early in the process.

"Malvern Panalytical's cross-belt analysers provide high-frequency online data for cost-efficient bulk material analysis of major commodities," Malvern Panalytical's Jarmo Lohilahti said.