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Assessment of Sortability Using a Dual-Energy X-ray Transmission System for Studied Sulphide Ore Zhang, Yiran; Yoon, Nawoong; Holuszko, M. E.

Abstract

In hard rock mining, sensor-based sorting can be applied as a pre-concentration method before the material enters the mill. X-ray transmission sensors have been explored in mining since 1972. Sorting ore of acceptable grade and waste material before processing at the mill can reduce the amount of tailings per unit of valuable metal in the mining operation and have many economic benefits. Ore samples used in this paper are from a polymetallic carbonate replacement deposit (gold-silver-lead-zinc sulphide) in Southeast Europe. This paper focuses on how the Dual-Energy X-ray Transmission (DE-XRT) data is generated and used for ore characterization and sortability for this sulphide ore. The method used in the DE-XRT analysis in this project is based on the dual-material decomposition method, which is used in the medical industry for radiology. This technique can distinguish sulphides from non-sulphides. However, the correlation developed between the DE-XRT response and the metal content is lacking. As a result, the DE-XRT response can only classify the material effectively but cannot reliably predict the metal content.

Item Metadata

Title
Assessment of Sortability Using a Dual-Energy X-ray Transmission System for Studied Sulphide Ore
Creator
Zhang, Yiran; Yoon, Nawoong; Holuszko, M. E.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2021-05-04
Description
In hard rock mining, sensor-based sorting can be applied as a pre-concentration method before the material enters the mill. X-ray transmission sensors have been explored in mining since 1972. Sorting ore of acceptable grade and waste material before processing at the mill can reduce the amount of tailings per unit of valuable metal in the mining operation and have many economic benefits. Ore samples used in this paper are from a polymetallic carbonate replacement deposit (gold-silver-lead-zinc sulphide) in Southeast Europe. This paper focuses on how the Dual-Energy X-ray Transmission (DE-XRT) data is generated and used for ore characterization and sortability for this sulphide ore. The method used in the DE-XRT analysis in this project is based on the dual-material decomposition method, which is used in the medical industry for radiology. This technique can distinguish sulphides from non-sulphides. However, the correlation developed between the DE-XRT response and the metal content is lacking. As a result, the DE-XRT response can only classify the material effectively but cannot reliably predict the metal content.
Subject
Dual-Energy X-ray Transmission (DE-XRT); sulphide; polymetallic
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-05-26
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0398171
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/78460
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of
Citation
Minerals 11 (5): 490 (2021)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/min11050490
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0