Ore Sorting · 2023
Tracking Grade Heterogeneity in a Panel Cave
How mixing inside the caves and along the material handling system erodes the grade variability that bulk sorting depends on.
- Project
- Cadia East
- Location
- New South Wales, Australia
- Application
- Bulk ore sorting
- Samples
- Block model, drawpoint and belt sensor grades
- Compared against
- In situ, extraction level and surface grades
PaperTracking Grade Heterogeneity in a Panel Cave Mine: A Reconciliation Study Investigating the Impact of Mixing from an Ore Sorting Perspective · Minerals
Read the paperContext
Bulk sorting relies on the grade heterogeneity that exists in an orebody. In cave mines, ore mixes from the moment it caves until it reaches the concentrator, and each stage reduces that heterogeneity.
The Work
Over two months of production, block model grades in situ, drawpoint sample grades at the extraction level and PGNAA belt sensor grades at surface were reconciled to track copper and gold heterogeneity.
Results
By the time ore reached the belt sensor, copper and gold grades were almost fully homogenized. Blending and handling after the drawpoints reduced variability far more than mixing in the caves, so a sorting opportunity may remain at the extraction level, for example with sensors on loaders.
