Malvern Panalytical, a leading supplier of analytical systems and services that help customers to create a better world, have teamed with the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) in a project to help the mining industry in Europe to achieve net-zero carbon mining by enhancing the green transition and digitization of the industry.
Finding minerals and metals is becoming increasingly more difficult. Not just in quantity, but also in density and quality. Companies need to go to more dangerous and remote places to extract minerals and they need to recycle them throughout the process to reduce waist.
As part of GTK’s mission to develop the most efficient ways to extract ores and support a circular economy, they have selected Malvern Panalytical’s MintecRobo. The MintecRobo improves the accuracy of the mining process while simultaneously speeding-up the mineralogical analysis, making the extraction process more efficient, as well as improving a safer environment for miners.
The MintecRobo can be used to maximize the speed and accuracy of sample preparations as it allows sample trials with different parameters to be run, providing more control over the extraction process than ever before.
The MintecRobo is a smart instrument which can adjust its method of extraction during the mining process according to environmental conditions. The technology will provide real-time information about the changing ore composition and the processing conditions during the extraction process. This will help mining companies save energy, increase recovery rates and the profitability of the whole mining operation.
“By having a fully automated instrument at GTK’s Mintec mineral processing pilot plant we can tackle many issues in the mining and address circular economy research. Ore grades are dwindling, and only small quantities of valuable minerals are available. Automation has helped us extract even the smallest amounts effectively and, that way, be more sustainable,” says Jouko Nieminen, head of unit at GTK.
The MintecRobo will be part of the new facilities at the beginning of 2024, as part of GTK Mintec’s development to enhance the transition to green technologies.
Visit the GTK website to learn more about its new laboratory in the works.
