[Job Story] TOMRA’s XRT Sorters Selected for Mineral Processing at World’s Largest Fluorspar Mine in Mexico

Koura, Orbia’s Fluor & Energy Materials business and one of the largest suppliers of high-purity metspar and acid spar products, has signed a contract with TOMRA Mining to install two X-Ray Transmission (XRT) sorters to support its operations at the Las Cuevas fluorspar mine in Mexico. The sorters significantly reduce silica and calcium carbonate content in the run-of-mine material, making processing more efficient and increasing the quality of the fluorspar product. Commissioning of the new XRT sorters is planned for early 2025.

Koura extracts the raw mineral from the Las Cuevas fluorspar mine in San Luis Potosí, Mexico – one of the world’s largest and most productive fluorspar sources – and is responsible for over 20% of global fluorspar supply.

Koura has been using TOMRA’s Color sorters at its San Luis Potosí processing plant and the Las Cuevas mine to remove calcium carbonate waste from its fluorspar feed. With TOMRA’s XRT sorters, scheduled for installation in late 2024 and commissioning in early 2025, it aims to improve further the efficiency of the process while reducing costs and environmental impact through minimized water and chemical consumption.

The challenge: efficient removal of silica waste from fluorspar feed

Koura turned to TOMRA to address the need to remove silica as well as calcium carbonate from the run-of-mine using less water – a scarce resource in the dry climate of San Luis Potosí – and fewer chemicals, as well as reducing the amount of material going through crushing and grinding.

TOMRA’s COM Tertiary XRT and COM 1200 XRT 2.0 sorters – for smaller and larger size material respectively – will provide Koura with higher throughput and more efficient silica removal compared to previous generations of sorters and traditional mineral processing technologies.

“Sensor-based sorting offers an amazing opportunity to remove waste while using fewer resources compared to flotation or media separation. With no water or chemicals needed, it is best in class for addressing our mining challenges.”

said Amaury Colunga Di Bella, Surface Operations Director at Orbia.

“We are proud that Koura has reaffirmed its trust in TOMRA Mining with this new agreement, and we look forward to supporting Koura’s ongoing success at Las Cuevas with the same dedication and expertise they have come to expect from us.”

said Harold Cline, TOMRA Mining’s North America Sales Manager.

[Job Story] TOMRA’s XRT Sorters Selected for Mineral Processing at World’s Largest Fluorspar Mine in Mexico published on The HeavyQuip Magazine.