In November 2023, Nuctech signed a sales contract with a client in Bolivia regarding an intelligent ore sorting system developed by Nuctech. This is Nuctech’s first intelligent ore sorting system order in the overseas market. It is a trailblazing order that will stimulate the global presence of Nuctech’s intelligent ore sorting system.
The project is located on a plateau with an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters where the grade of the raw ore is low while transportation costs are high. The client intends to adopt an intelligent sorting technology for the pre-discarding tailing process of tin ore, improve the raw ore’s grade, enable pre-sorting, and increase efficiency and financial returns.
Bolivia is rich in mineral deposits which are widely distributed and mostly located in areas with poor infrastructure and challenging working conditions. To expand business in the intelligent ore sorting market, Nuctech’s sales team and technical team set up a special joint working group for mineral processing and conducted comprehensive research and sampling tests on local tin ore, copper ore, and other metallic minerals. The joint working group started working while still recovering from a 12-hour jet lag, carried out rounds of analysis and evaluation, and had in-depth communication and discussions with users about their needs and solutions. It took the team 9 months to finally put the project into operation.
The intelligent ore sorting system is a fully automated and intelligent sorting system independently developed and manufactured by Nuctech. The system uses an array-type high-pressure air injection device to automatically sort the ore that is moving at a high speed to obtain ore concentrate (clean coal) and tailings (gangue). It effectively replaces traditional mineral processing methods such as manual picking, jigging, and heavy-media separation, and reduces the operating costs of mineral processing plants.
The system is characterized by high precision, low energy consumption, intelligent operation, environmental protection, and a simple workflow. Equipped with high-precision detectors, an AI algorithm, and a high-speed injection control system, the system enables accurate identification and sorting of ore; it reduces the amount of waste rocks that enter the grinding process, decreases energy consumption in grinding, produces no coal slime, and reduces energy consumption in the drying process, while the installed power of the whole system is significantly lower than that of traditional sorting equipment; the whole system operates fully automatically without manual supervision; it does not consume water or any medium and does not produce coal slime or toxic/harmful gases; there is no need to configure a water circulation system or a medium recovery circulation system, and the concentrate (clean coal) products can be obtained directly. The system can be widely used for the sorting of a variety of minerals such as coal, coal-bearing kaolinite, phosphate ore, tungsten ore, tin ore, lead-zinc ore, fluorite ore, gemstone ore, etc.
As of now, Nuctech’s series of intelligent sorting systems have been successfully put into use by mining companies in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hubei, and other provinces across China. These intelligent sorting systems help users significantly improve the ore grade, reduce energy consumption, increase the concentrate production capacity, extend mine life, reduce environmental pollution, and substantially improve the financial performance of mining companies.
Following the business philosophy of “pursuing market- and innovation-driven growth”, Nuctech continues to increase investment in research and development and has developed many technologically advanced and premium products in the application of nuclear technology. By empowering clients through technological innovation, Nuctech is committed to facilitating the high-quality development of clients.