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Once the system is fully operational, TOMRA remains at the customer\u2019s side through its Service Level Agreement, unique on the market, to ensure the solution continues to deliver the desired results. The tailored agreement can include on-site presence as required, seven days\/week product support, application engineer visits, tiered urgency support, targeted site response, training, as well as spare and wear parts coverage to ensure maximum uptime and protect the customer\u2019s investment.<\/p>\n
TOMRA\u2019s XRT technology recognizes and separates material based on its specific atomic density. It uses a cutting-edge X-Ray camera with DUOLINE\u00ae<\/sup> sensor technology to measure spectral absorption information. TOMRA\u2019s proprietary high-speed X-Ray processing unit uses the data to produce a detailed \u201cdensity image\u201d of the material. The result is a high level of purity in sorting materials, irrespective of size, the degree of moisture or surface pollution present. TOMRA\u2019s XRT high-capacity sorters are incredibly effective in the recovery of free, liberated diamonds at high feed rates up to 300 t\/h.<\/p>\n TOMRA\u2019s NIR sorters recognize and separate Kimberlite and waste rock based on their chemical composition. This technology is useful in upgrading lower grade ROM and stockpiles, producing a Kimberlite concentrate for further processing.<\/p>\n Marie-Claude Hall\u00e9 had first-hand experience of how TOMRA\u2019s solutions can add value to diamond mining operations when she held the role as Marketing Operations Manager for leading Canadian diamond exploration and producing company Stornoway Diamonds: \u201cYou have to really envision that TOMRA has actually changed the game in terms rough diamond recovered around the world and allowed producers to access large exceptional quality goods that perhaps in the past would be crushed to pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n With its customized approach, TOMRA can deliver on its promise of guaranteed results both in hard rock Kimberlite\/Lamproite, and Alluvial deposits \u2013 each of which presents their specific challenges. Additionally, complex, energy- and water-intensive Kimberlite liberation processes, and the cost of transportation for crushing and processing are challenges facing modern diamond miners today. TOMRA\u2019s XRT and NIR technologies, which offer extremely high concentration factors, allow the production of hand sortable, ultra-high grade concentrates in as little as two stages compared to up to seven in traditional methods.<\/p>\n The challenge of economically mining low-grade alluvial deposits is due to their typically lower grade and the sporadic nature of the deposits. The high recovery performance of TOMRA\u2019s XRT technology enables single-stage or double-stage diamond recovery, offering a drastically lower operating cost and capital investment so that mining marginal deposits become economically viable. Another advantage of TOMRA\u2019s XRT solution is that it can operate as a dry process, which dramatically reduces its environmental impact and operational complexity. Besides, it opens the door to new opportunities, making it possible to mine deposits in arid areas where water access is minimal.<\/p>\n TOMRA XRT machines have proved effective in alluvial operations. One such case is that of the Lulo mine in Angola operated by Lucapa Diamonds, where TOMRA XRT technology is used to process material between 18 and 55 mm in size and allows the recovery of diamonds up to 1,100 ct \u2013 and where it has recovered Angola\u2019s second-biggest diamond on record in 2017, a 227 ct stone. \u201cThe recovery of the 227 ct diamond using the new XRT circuit justifies our investment in TOMRA\u2019s large diamond recovery technology, which has more than paid for itself with the recovery of this one stone alone,\u201d commented Stephen Wetherall, Lucapa Diamonds Managing Director at the time of the recovery.<\/p>\n TOMRA is in the unique position of being able to offer diamond operations a full XRT recovery flow sheet to 2 mm that delivers concentration factors up to 1 million with a much-reduced number of concentration stages.<\/p>\n TOMRA\u2019s XRT technology can replace traditional methods such as Dense Media Separation (DMS), wet magnetic separation and XRL final recovery with single-stage solutions for +\u20098 mm and double-pass for \u2013\u20098\u00a0mm +4 mm particles.<\/p>\n TOMRA\u2019s solution eliminates up to seven concentration stages, dramatically reducing the complexity of the supporting plant and infrastructure. This results in significantly lower power and water consumption, which not only reduces costs, but also the environmental impact of the recovery process.<\/p>\n An additional benefit of TOMRA\u2019s solution is that it is a fully automated process, so that there is no manual handling during pre-concentration and recovery, which has positive implications on security and eliminates human error resulting in greater accuracy.<\/p>\n TOMRA\u2019s sorters not only stand out for their high capacity, they process these large volumes with great efficiency, finding more diamonds than other, traditional separation methods \u2013 including coated and low- or non-luminescent diamonds. The performance of its XRT sorters is independent of the heavies content in the feed, and is ideal for processing high-yielding ores unsuitable for DMS. The result is an exceptionally high recovery rate of > 98\u2009%<\/p>\n With TOMRA\u2019s sorting solutions, diamond producers can install Large Diamond Recovery systems with a small capital investment and operate with a fraction of operating expenditures per tonne compared to traditional recovery methods such as DMS and XRL. In addition, the economic recovery of Ultra Low-Frequency Exceptional Diamonds of +\u200932 mm is now possible.<\/p>\n TOMRA\u2019s XRT technology has exceeded all expectations at Lucara Diamond Corporation\u2019s Karowe mine in Botswana with a string of record-breaking diamond recoveries. TOMRA\u2019s Large Diamond Recovery circuit was installed in 2015 and Eira Thomas, Lucara Diamond CEO is fully satisfied: \u201cWe felt, certainly, that the technology that TOMRA offered was the best. But, more importantly, I think it was really around the approach, the attitude of collaboration and willingness to actually work with Lucara as we undertook to solve this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIn Kimberlite, the challenge is to recover \u201cneedle in a haystack\u201d diamonds, which requires controlled crushing of kimberlite ore to avoid damaging or breaking the diamonds. High waste dilution impacts the crushing energy needed and further increases diamond breakage risk. Utilizing TOMRA NIR technologies we can remove non-diamond bearing material, not only improving the crushing profile of the ore, but also increasing the value of each ton of ore processed. TOMRA NIR waste sorting technology can make diluted marginal kimberlite deposits economic.<\/p>\n