In conversation with the Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru, Engineer Juan Escala Abril, Antamina’s Superintendent of Innovation and Technology Projects, stated that the company will decide by the end of this year whether or not to proceed with the acquisition of the technological tool. of ore sorting (mineral selection) that he implemented in the buckets of his huge shovels.

During PERUMIN 35, he recounted that the main copper producer in Peru began three years ago the innovative project of millimeter classification of the minerals hidden in the clearing for their subsequent dispatch in the gigantic trucks and their transportation to the processing plant, in order to make the most of the material extracted in the open pit.

“For a period of 20 years, we have transported ballast to the crusher, and that has impacted the production guide. With the implementation of the ore sorting system , we are reading the minerals with reasonably exploitable grades that must be deposited in the buckets of our shovels and then in the hoppers of our trucks”, he detailed.

The way in which this solution detects the profitable ore among large volumes of rock with less attractive contents, is based on the operation of X-rays capable of analyzing up to 10 images per second of the material and identifying where the highest head grades are really hidden. be it copper, zinc or silver, minerals produced by Antamina.