A high-voltage pulse technology developed at the University of Queensland's Sustainable Minerals Institute could reduce mineral processing time and energy consumption by 30%, researchers claim.
The HVP technology is being used to selectively break mineralised ores while keeping barren rocks intact, using a short-pulsed discharge similar to a lightning strike.
Project leader Dr Christian Antonio said zapping rocks with HVT could be the answer to decarbonising the mining industry as the technology significantly reduced energy consumption.
Antonio said mineral processing was the most energy-intensive part of mining and a significant consumer of energy globally.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
"This technology makes it possible to choose the material that should go to the processing plant and leave behind material that contains little or no metal," he said.
"By separating barren rocks from the valuable mineralised rocks, which are weakened by the lightning strikes, we can cut down processing time and make the whole process more energy efficient."
He said the efficiencies were noticeable throughout the mining process but in the grinding stage research shows a reduction of about 30% in processing time and energy consumption.
Antonio said the concept behind HVP technology was similar to lightning attractors, which showed how lightning was more likely to strike someone holding a metallic umbrella.
"Electrical energy automatically targets the conductive mineral particles within a rock and breaks up the rock as it reaches them," he said.
"To deliver this energy we also electrify a conventional piece of mineral processing equipment that sorts rocks by size, meaning we are simultaneously zapping the rocks and sorting the fragments."
Antonio said it was a more efficient way to deliver the energy while achieving the more than 100t per hour throughputs required by the mining industry.
Group leader associate professor Kym Runge said there was wide industry interest in how the technology could decarbonise operations.
"A key part of this project is showing our partners that the technology can feasibly be added to their plants," she said.
"We are currently working on building a business case that will quantify the benefits of this technology, then we will design a HVP unit integrating our technology and progress that to commercialisation."
Runge said ultimately, the plan was to build a pilot plant to fully demonstrate the benefits of HVP.
