Mining services technology company NextOre has taken out a global award for its innovative ore sorting solution that uses Magnetic Resonance to measure ore grade in real time, developed by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.
NextOre was named Mining Technology Company of the Year at the Mines and Money Awards ceremony, held in London on 1 December, recognised for delivering the industry’s leading mining technology solution.
NextOre’s MR technology represents a leap forward in bulk ore sorting for mining companies, providing accurate, whole-of-sample grade measurements at high speeds.
The technology employs a sensing technique similar to magnetic resonance imaging, designed to provide near instantaneous whole-of-ore grade estimates. It can be fitted over industry standard conveyers and delivers accurate Run of Mine grade readings in seconds, allowing removal of any low-grade waste ore, effectively increasing the grade of the ore stream and decreasing the tonnes being delivered to the plant.
It is capable of operating at typical mining rates exceeding 5,000 tonnes per hour, per conveyor belt.
NextOre chief executive officer Chris Beal said the Mines and Money award was a welcome recognition for the company’s success in progressing the Magnetic Resonance technology to a commercial solution for mining companies.
“Ore sorting has been called the ‘Holy Grail’ for the mining sector, which is increasingly challenged with extracting minerals from ore bodies with ever declining grade profiles,” Mr Beal said.
“Transportation, crushing and processing of increasing volumes of ore is expensive and energy intensive, and processing material that costs more than the value contained within it is neither good for margins nor the environment, but practically it has not been easy to avoid.
“Our solution works at high speed and large tonnages, measures all of the ore material with high accuracy and results in real time.”
NextOre, was formed in 2017 as a joint venture between CSIRO, RFC Ambrian and Worley.
Its technology has been commercially deployed at several copper operations globally. In June NextOre announced the installation and full commissioning of a unit at First Quantum’s Kansanshi mine. Operating at 2800 tph it is the highest capacity ore sorting plant in the world.
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Further Information
Chris Beal
Chief Executive Officer
+61 466 563 122
