Real-time mineral sensing for highly efficient mining

Current
Situation

The mining industry relies on low-resolution, statistical geological block models that leaves them in the dark about the mineral content of the ore they process.

01 Solution

Real-Time minerology knowledge right in the pit

HYPERMINE™ laser-based hyperspectral sensor provides real-time mineralogy data during run-of-mine, 24/7, in all ambient and environmental conditions, in both underground and surface mines.

The digitized information boosts the quality of stockpiling and fleet management decisions, to ensure optimal processing of ore.

Benefit 01

Improves mine profitability

Up to 10% profitability improvement through better ore recovery and grade control. The technology ensures that high-grade ore reaches the crusher and waste goes to dump, which increases gains without increasing input volumes.

Benefit 02

Delivers measurable sustainability gains

Quantifiable, reportable reductions in energy, water, and tailings. The technology allows for less energy consumed in processing, lower water usage, less tailings generated, that reduces the environmental cost per tonne of recovered mineral.

Benefit 03

Safe to operate technology

Technology has an eye-safe IEC 60825-1 certified laser, and it is operable remotely, allowing ore-grade geologists to monitor the mineralogy data directly from the control room.

100× more accurate selection

Traditional decision making is based on 3,000–10,000-tonne averages of block models.

HYPERMINE™ allows unique decision making for every shovel or truck load, increasing the resolution to 100–300 tonnes of material.

Real-time measurements allow for 100x more accurate stockpiling decisions compare to traditional block model estimates.

02 Technology

HYPERMINE’s laser-based hyperspectral mineralogy sensing provides real-time mineralogy data during run-of-mine. It allows for 24/7 operations working in harsh conditions regardless of light, dust and weather. The hardware requires no on-site equipment calibration, and it measures rocks with any geometry, at distances up to 50 meters within just 1-2 minutes.

Benefit 01

OPERATES 24/7 IN ALL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The active laser platform ensures homogeneous illumination of the whole rock surface. It delivers high-quality data in all environmental conditions including darkness, direct sunlight, dust, and rain.

Benefit 02

NO ON-SITE EQUIPMENT CALIBRATION REQUIRED

The Hardware is precalibrated at the factory and retains calibration at the site. The active laser nature of the technology removes the need for daily manual calibration entirely.

Benefit 03

DIGITIZED MINERAL DATA ON THE EDGE

Proprietary machine learning algorithms deliver real-time rock type, lithology, chemistry and ore grade knowledge. It integrates with existing fleet management systems and mining vehicles without disrupting established workflows.

Laser-enabled Sensing Unit

Laser-enabled yet eye-safe hyperspectral unit ensures homogeneous illumination in the whole surface of teh raw material. After illumination, the reflected laser light is collected by the unit delivering the highest quality of data even for surfaces with complex geometries, like muck piles and truck loads. HYPERMINE™ Laser Scanner needs only a couple of minutes to scan up to 5×5 meter surface of material.

Data Processing Unit

Based on mineralogical features in the measured reflected data, proprietary machine learning algorithms deliver real-time rock type, lithology, chemistry or ore grade distribution maps. Along with mineral data, the unit provides 3D LiDAR point clouds and visible images with overlaid mineralogy to ensure clear identification of measured areas.

01

Instant data for Ore Grade Control Geologist

Real-time knowledge allows geologist to make data driven decisions right in the pit or remotely. Real-time data improves the quality of stockpiling decisions by identifying discrepancies between excavated material and mine block model.

02

Fleet management system integration

Digital mineralogy data is integrated with existing fleet management systems to improve guidance of trucks in real-time without disrupting established workflows.

03

Mine Block model integration

Digital mineralogy data can be integrated and looped back to improve the mine block model. It allows to improve the statistics behind the model and monitor the quality of blasting operations.

03 Application scenarios

Rockface scanning in underground mines

A mobile platform-mounted sensor scans the rock faces in 1–2 minutes providing real-time mineralogy information to guide underground loaders and continuous miners.