Terra Goyana Mining (TGM) benchmarks itself in mineral analysis, improvement, beneficiation and bauxite commercialisation, with its ore sorting technique serving to affirm these goals, STEINERT says.
Representing 5.5% of nationwide manufacturing, TGM stands out amongst Brazil’s largest producers. It has operations on the Barro Alto mine (Goiás) and an workplace in Goiânia, and is a part of the Supergram group, which operates in varied sectors, together with business bauxite extraction. By way of Bautek, a producer of calcined bauxite, the group strengthens the vertical integration of its product.
To make sure a aggressive product, TGM faces environmental, social and particularly business challenges. The purpose is evident: remodel compact bauxite into a cloth with accepted calcium and aluminium content material, to satisfy more and more stringent market requirements. With advances in mining operations, the necessity for progressive technological options has grow to be much more pressing.
On this situation, the implementation of sensor-based sorting (SBS) know-how emerges as an answer to satisfy the market necessities, STEINERT says.
Beforehand, materials classification was carried out by way of screening alone, which resulted within the retention of anorthosite a extra resilient lithology wealthy in iron (Fe) and calcium oxide (CaO) within the coarser fractions.
As the following step within the undertaking’s improvement, the creation of a brand new, higher-value-added product was deliberate. The first requirement outlined was to make sure environment friendly impurity elimination to cut back calcium contamination under 0.15%. Moreover, rising the aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) content material vary between 62% and 63% could be helpful, as it could allow the manufacturing of a premium materials.
To perform this goal, growing a beneficiation flowsheet for the screened materials could be required. Typical bauxite processing flowsheets contain levels corresponding to comminution, magnetic separation, washing, dewatering, or flotation.
It was on this context that the partnership with STEINERT Latinoamericana was established, offering SBS know-how.
José Maurício, TGM’s Planning Supervisor, stated: “The applying of an ore sorter is essential to assembly the necessities of particular markets, such because the refractory abrasives market, as a result of strict requirements concerning calcium oxide (CaO) content material. With this innovation, TGM not solely enhances its competitiveness within the business but additionally positions itself as a benchmark in sustainable mining, aligning with greatest environmental practices and the rising world demand for extra accountable operations.”
Innovation and concrete outcomes
The collaboration between TGM and STEINERT started in 2022 with testing to validate the know-how’s effectivity. Samples had been despatched to the Testing Centre in Matosinhos, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the place STEINERT KSS | XT CLI tools geared up with X-ray Transmission (XRT), color, 3D laser and magnetic induction sensors had been used to enabled exact materials evaluation.
Within the first spherical of exams, utilizing two 2 t of samples, from 1-4 inches, the outcomes showcased a customized configuration for every materials sort, with a standout mixture of XRT and 3D laser, making certain extremely environment friendly separation, in accordance with STEINERT.
This preliminary success led to a second spherical of testing, centered on a fair larger problem: acquiring premium bauxite with excessive Al₂O₃ content material whereas lowering contaminants corresponding to silicon dioxide (SiO₂), hematite (Fe₂O₃), calcium oxide (CaO), and magnesium oxide (MgO), in a finer measurement fraction of 1-2 inches.
After finetuning the method, STEINERT’s know-how, the corporate says, demonstrated its full functionality to:
- Reject particles with excessive iron content material;
- Considerably enhance Al₂O₃ ranges; and
- Cut back impurities to satisfy market requirements.
The second check confirmed the effectivity of XRT know-how in eradicating contaminants, attaining the specified parameters (CaO < 0.1%) and lowering Fe₂O₃ contamination within the reject materials, which confirmed ranges between 7% and 22%.
STEINERT says: “TGM’s technique for steering ore sorter merchandise reinforces the zero-waste idea, enabling the manufacturing of high-value bauxite and the commercialisation of reject materials for varied industries, corresponding to cement, ceramics and metallurgy. This expands each sustainability and the financial feasibility of the method.”
Alexandre Rosa, TGM’s PCP Supervisor, stated: “Bringing collectively the experience of those that know the tools with those that perceive the method and the product permits us to establish the perfect operational limits and areas for enchancment, facilitating collaborative work to optimise operational profitability and improve the product.”
One of many enhancements proposed by the STEINERT Latinoamericana staff in the course of the preliminary section of the pilot plant was the usage of object formation optimisation know-how on its software program to enhance particle recognition and ejection accuracy. This helped counteract the results of fines within the feed materials whereas assembly the requirement to regulate the processed materials’s particle measurement to 0.5-2 inches. In consequence, information accuracy elevated, end result variability decreased and plant productiveness improved considerably, in accordance with the corporate.
Following this testwork, TGM acquired its first STEINERT sorting system, with Osmar Ribeiro, Beneficiation Supervisor at TGM, excited by the outcomes: “By making use of the sorter, we are able to leverage our manufacturing on the mining entrance, performing pre-classification of the anorthosite proper within the sorter. This improved selectivity from the mining entrance to the crushing course of, separating the anorthosite from the bauxite and through screening.”
Solidifying the partnership
After greater than a 12 months of operation, the partnership between TGM and STEINERT has been strengthened, the corporate says. STEINERT offers steady help, with distant help and common technical visits to optimise processes and make personalised changes in step with new market calls for.
Ribeiro says: “We depend on the superb help from the technicians at STEINERT Latinoamericana who’re in fixed contact with me and the operators, all the time able to right failures — one thing frequent in any course of, whatever the time.”
Through the assisted operation of the pilot plant, it was noticed that the variation between the 2 predominant seasons – wet and dry – straight impacts the effectivity of separation as a result of adjustments within the materials’s traits. In response to this problem, the STEINERT World staff actively labored to mitigate the manufacturing impacts and stays continuously attentive to offer help for the advance of mineral operations.
In consequence, the businesses have established a strong partnership based mostly on technical collaboration and steady undertaking improvement.
TGM’s course of is 100% dry, utilizing water just for infrastructure actions. This differentiator is totally aligned with the corporate’s ESG practices, reinforcing its dedication to extra sustainable mining, STEINERT says.
It added: “With the implementation of the STEINERT Ore Sorter know-how, TGM considerably elevated the selectivity of the method, leading to cleaner, higher-quality merchandise that may be directed to new markets with extra stringent necessities, with out the necessity for moist beneficiation. Moreover, there was a rise in accessible reserves, as enhancing classification effectivity and ore restoration permits for higher use of the deposit, thereby lowering future environmental impacts.”
