Sensor-based sorting of tungsten ore

In conditions of decreasing quality of mined ores and, especially in cases when commercial components are contained in minerals with different physical properties, it is necessary to provide the processing technology with new approaches using the process of pre-concentration of the mined rock mass, implementing it through sorting of lump material based on sensorbased sorting. It is shown that the integration of XRL and XRF in the sorting of the rock mass that has undergone the stage of medium crushing, carried out on the material of substandard tungsten ores of the North Caucasus deposits, as well as using the XRT used in the process of sorting of skarn-scheelite-sulfide ore of the Vostok-2 deposit in Primorsky Krai, allows to isolate up to 40% of waste rocks with an outboard content of commercial components. At the same time, their content in the sorting concentrate increases by at least 1.55 times, and metal losses in the waste decrease from 5 to 8.5%. The results of flotation of the XRT concentrate demonstrate an increase in the through recovery of WO3 into the concentrate from 47% obtained during flotation of the initial lean ore to 89% during flotation of the preliminary enriched product in the sorting process

Keywords: XRL-sorting, XRT-sorting, ore preparation, separation threshold, cut-off grade, weakly mineralized rocks, enrichment, flotation.
For citation:

Tereshchenko S. V., Alushkin I. V. Sensor-based sorting of tungsten ore. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2025;(9-1):156-167. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2025_91_0_156.

Acknowledgements:
Issue number: 9-1
Year: 2025
Page number: 156-167
ISBN: 0236-1493
UDK: 622.73; 622.765
DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2025_91_0_156
Article receipt date: 03.06.2025
Date of review receipt: 27.07.2025
Date of the editorial board′s decision on the article′s publishing: 10.08.2025
About authors:

S.V. Tereshchenko, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, Murmansk Arctic University, branch in Apatity, 184209, Apatity, Russia, e-mail: sertereshchenko@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6068-4235,
I.V. Alushkin, Project Manager, JSC VERATEС, 123112, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: alushkiniv@yandex.ru.

 

For contacts:

S.V. Tereshchenko, e-mail: sertereshchenko@mail.ru.

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