Upgrading of low grade silver-lead-zinc ore stockpiles at Volcan Compania Minera SAA's base metals operations in Peru, using sensor-based ore sorting

摘要

Sensor-based automatic ore sorting technologies can be used in the minerals industries to efficiently remove excessive waste and sub-marginal grade material from pre-mined low grade stockpiles, producing a coarse (typically >10mm) upgraded potential plant feed. If upgrading is successful, a supplementary high-margin ore feed can be generated from such stockpiles with minimal capital investment and no requirement for increased mining activity, thereby contributing to increased economic returns to the operations. In this paper, we review the bulk ore sorting testwork undertaken on material from low grade open pit stockpiles at Volcan Compania Minera SAA's base metals operations in Peru and provide an economic analysis of the potential benefits of ore sorting based on the testwork results and likely operating parameters for a commercial plant.