Mining services provider NextOre has made what it says is a “world-first sensor system” called OG3, which is available to underground copper miners.
The magnetic resonance (MR) analyser determines ore grade to “cost effectively sort minerals of value from waste” enabling significant reductions in fuel, water, electricity, and chemical consumption while also reducing the quantity of wet tailings produced for each tonne of copper.
NextOre says the first deployment of the OG3 sensor — which is capable of analysing the grade of up to 50 tonnes of material in under a minute — is expected in an underground mine in New South Wales this year.
Initially the unit will be used for between 30 to 50 tonne mine trucks, with the potential to expand applications to load-haul-dump bucket loads, further enhancing underground efficiency.
By enabling real-time ore grade measurement, the sensor provides operators with insights to reduce unnecessary haulage by selectively rejecting low-grade material, improve ore blending and downstream processing efficiency, and optimise material movement.
NextOre says the sensor also provides insights to enhance overall productivity while reducing operations costs and environmental impact.
CEO Chris Beal says with traditional large-scale capital expansion projects becoming less viable, operators are seeking smarter, lower-risk solutions that deliver value.
“Our goal has been to ensure that the sensor is easy to install, simple to operate, and provides fast, actionable insights,” Beal says.
“The higher the grade of the material, the shorter the analysis time. Conversely, lower-grade material requires slightly longer scanning durations.”
NextOre is continuing to expand its footprint globally, with MR analyser installations in high-capacity operations such as First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) Kansanshi Copper Mine in Zambia, alongside a 6,500 tonnes per hour conveyor application in Chile.
Prior to launching the sensor system, NextOre says the technology was initially commercialised for conveyor belt application and after decades of research and development by the CSIRO, it has now been adapted for analysing ore transported by underground copper trucks.
NextOre is an Australian mining technology company specialising in advanced magnetic resonance sensing solutions for real-time ore sorting.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: NextOre
