Loading ...From the gold camps of Ontario to the diamond fields of southern Africa, the world’s largest mining groups are turning to a new technology in the race to get ahead of competitors.
That technology is air, according to mining engineers and consultants: Barrick Gold, Goldcorp and a handful of go-ahead players have all begun piping, blasting and even firing gas in imaginative new ways that could alter the industry forever.
State of the art air technology has already blown open the diamond market and is “just starting” to get into gold and base metals, says a process engineer working for mining consultant Hatch, speaking on the basis of anonymity. Tonnage travelling along a conveyor can be scanned like airport luggage, before being blasted with air guns to separate ore from waste. “Everyone with a copper mine is pretty excited about it.”
cont. http://www.globalminingobserver.com/air-technology-bulk-sorting-202