Abstract

Dry processing of minerals is increasingly attractive in a mining environment where water is a scarce commodity. Sensor-based sorting has the potential to perform dry separation of ore from gangue at an early stage of the processing, also helping to reduce energy consumption due to downstream crushing. In order to develop a sensor-based sorting process, selection of a suitable sensor is of critical importance. In practice, a near infrared sensor can measure characteristic features of carbonate, hydroxyl and water groups contained in minerals and rocks. This paper examines the process of establishing the suitability of a near infrared sensor for distinguishing hydrothermally-formed minerals. It is concluded that characteristic absorption features in near infrared spectra offer a more robust route to separating out minerals than the level of absorption.

© 2013 IM Publications LLP

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