Geophysical methods for controlling the useful component content as the basis for the quality management system at mining and processing enterprises

Abstract

The article is devoted to substantiating the possibility of creating a common quality management system for iron ore plants based on geophysical methods of operational quality control for mineral raw materials. Due to the fall in prices on the world markets of iron ore raw materials, the financial and economic situation of the mining and processing enterprises in Ukraine has significantly worsened. Thus, the problem of effective control and quality management in mining has become of maximum importance. The availability of timely and reliable information about the content of the useful component will allow responding quickly, forming an integrated final ore cargo flow of the plant of exact quality required by the mining and concentration complex. The need to create a common quality management system is dictated by the fact that the iron ore has a heterogeneous distribution of the useful component content within the deposit, the extraction and transport equipment operates irregularly, resulting in ore cargo flows of various degrees of integration have significant amplitude and frequency oscillations, both by quality and quantity indicators. The instability of the useful component content in the ore cargo, which is aimed at enrichment, leads to a decrease in concentrate output, increase of losses in the tails, costs increase, decrease of the enterprise profit and decrease of its competitiveness. The mathematical model of ore cargo flow formation, which has a range of limitations on quality characteristics, is given. The structure and functional scheme of the quality management system of the mining and processing plant are substantiated. As a result of theoretical studies, the possibility of using radiometric and magnetometric methods for the operational quality control of the iron ore raw materials in the conditions of mining and processing plants by geophysical devices developed by the staff of the problem-branch laboratory of the Kryvyi Rih National University and Rudpromheofizyka LLC is substantiated. The basic technological characteristics of devices and systems are given, information on their introduction into production is provided. It is concluded that the researches carried out and the devices introduced on their basis have created objective prerequisites for substantiating the quality management system at mining and processing plants. The devices and operational control systems based on geophysical methods allow to cover all major stages of mining and processing, to receive timely and reliable information on the condition and dynamics of changes in the useful component content, to efficiently quality management at mining and processing plants, to increase the enterprises competitiveness and profitability.