Ore sorting through sensor technology enhances efficiency and reduces environmental impact.Getty Images
The shift from fossil fuels to clean energy requires large amounts of minerals. The demand for copper, for example, is expected to nearly double by 2035, according to recent industry reports.
As mining companies are challenged to keep up, “solutions include improving existing mining operations, developing novel extraction technologies and stepping up recycling efforts,” says Anne Bulik, president and COO, MineSense Technologies. “With resource depletion a key challenge, mining companies must find better ways to extract and use critical minerals and metals to meet rapidly rising demand.”
This complex issue is driven by several connected factors. Ore grades are declining, which makes extraction more expensive. At the same time, exploration spending is increasing, but costs are higher and new discoveries are becoming less frequent.
While many technologies “focus on optimizing what happens after mining, MineSense creates value by improving decisions earlier in the mining value chain,” Ms. Bulik says. “As a complete hardware and software system, enabled by proprietary algorithms, the technology measures and reports ore grade and ore characteristics in real-time at the mine face.”
Traditional mine planning relies on block models that average grade over large volumes. “Our solution, sensor-based ore sorting, increases recovery rates in mining operations by rejecting waste before processing,” she says. “ShovelSense measures ore grade at the bucket level.”
Using a set of robust high-speed X-ray fluorescence (HSXRF) sensors installed on cable and hydraulic shovels and front-end loaders, ShovelSense scans the mineral content of the bucket to assess the grade of the material within, Ms. Bulik explains. “The location is then digitally provided directly to the FMS software to direct the haul truck, with no operator intervention required.”
The shift from modelled assumptions to real-time measurement provides earlier and more precise insight into the true value of the material being extracted, she says. “Real-time access to higher-resolution information enables informed decisions about directing material, whether to the mill, stockpile or waste, which helps to avoid production delays and eliminates additional hauling requirements.”
While the industry invests millions in downstream processes, including for plants, recovery and optimization, it often overlooks “how much value can be lost before material even reaches the conveyor belt,” says Ms. Bulik. “From our experience at [auditing] operating mine sites, we’ve seen that high-grade ore can be misclassified and discarded due to limitations in geological modelling and the inherent variability introduced during blasting and material movement, leading to millions in annual losses and unnecessary energy consumption from processing waste material.”
MineSense offers a robust solution that, in addition to enhancing operational efficiencies, helps advance environmental stewardship objectives, according to Ms. Bulik.
“By identifying higher-grade material at the shovel, the technology directs higher-grade material to the mill while rejecting waste earlier in the process,” she notes. “This means less material needs to be processed to produce the same metal output, reducing energy and water use per tonne of metal.”
Advertising feature produced by Randall Anthony Communications with the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.