DYNOSORT

Funded by EIT RawMaterials and EU

Time span

From 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2023

Abbreviation

DYNOSORT

Project type

Innovation transfer

The novel approach for sensor-based sorting of raw materials developed by HZDR/HIF and HZDR/THEIAX will be tested and validated through the joint work of the RIS ESEE-based partners: the innovative manufacturer of sorting equipment COMEX Polska, the Technical University of Kosice, which plays a strategic role in the development of the Slovak RM market, and DIAMO, a state-owned company dealing with the elimination of the consequences of mining activities. The aim is to develop a scalable simulation-based approach that enables the selection of the optimal sensor for sensor-based sorting of raw materials.

As a case study, the project will pre-sort polymetallic material from mining waste dumps in the Příbram region. The tailings from former mining activities in the Příbram mining district (Czech Republic) have a total tonnage of 39 million tons and contain around 380,000 tons of polymetallic ores. In the coming years, the Czech state will invest €148 million from the state budget to eliminate the environmental impact of former mining in the Příbram area by separating some of the high-density material from the siliceous material during the rehabilitation of the spoil heaps by sorting the ore. The latter is used as building material for road construction. The dense fraction contains a significant amount of lead and zinc and considerable quantities of the critical raw materials (CRM) niobium, tantalum, indium, antimony and cobalt as well as silver, which are currently being stockpiled for further treatment.

As part of the DYNOSORT project, representative samples from the high-density non-radioactive fraction will be efficiently analyzed and machine learning-optimized simulations will be created, making it possible to determine the most suitable sensors and sorting equipment for efficient and sustainable separation of the material. The system will be tested in a pilot plant on the COMEX site, where material from two different stockpiles will be processed. Upon completion of the project, the DYNOSORT consortium will apply for an EIT RM upscaling project to validate the scalability of the technology. A preliminary commercialization strategy will be developed to prepare the market launch of a potential project spin-off.

Publication

Contact

Kosice University of Technology, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies

Prof. Martin Sisol

+421 55 602 2205

martin.sisol@tuke.sk

Pollutants

Pb

Resources

Zn

Nb

Ta

In

Sb

Co

Ag

Partners

Logo HIF

Helmholtz-Institut Freiberg für Ressourcentechnologie

Logo DIAMO

DIAMO state enterprise