Remediation of mine waste dumps using sensor based sorting

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The objective of the research is to assess sensor based for the cleanup of legacy mining waste dumps that leachacid and metals into the environment. During the mining activity, ore is mined and processed to recovervaluable metals. There are two main forms a waste materials including tailings and coarse waste rock. For thepast 40 years mining operations have managed and remediated the waste dumps to prevent weather and metalleaching, referred to as acid rock drainage. However, historically, created waste dumps without remediationsuch that the abandoned legacy mine sites release acid waters and metals into the environment.Sensor based sorting technologies have evolved in the past 15 years and are increasingly finding application inthe mining industry. These technologies use sensors such as x-ray transmission and x-ray fluorescence topredict the sulphur or metal content of rocks. In the sorting machine, the rocks flow on a conveyor or across achute sensing each rock and then triggering an actuator to deflect selected rocks. The research will test thetechnology on a selected waste rock dump in order to determine if sulphide mineral content of the wastematerial can be reduced sufficiently to reduce or eliminate the acid rock drainage.