Bridging the gap: Understanding the economic impact of ore sorting on a mineral processing circuit

Abstract

Automated, continuous ore sorting is a mature technology that has only been used to a limited extent in the hard rock mining industry. However, sorting has been applied in many industries ranging from food preparation and recycled scrap recovery, to diamond mining, industrial minerals, and precious metals processing. A major barrier to widespread implementation in hard rock mining is a knowledge gap: sorting equipment manufacturers have made modest footholds in the mining industry, while miners and plant operators are largely unaware of recent developments and the state-of-the-art technology. Most importantly, a widespread understanding of how ore sorters can be implemented and their significant economic impacts is lacking. The impacts of ore sorting on the economics and the process flow sheet of an existing semi-autogenous milling circuit of a US copper mine are discussed.