Sorting and Blending Energy Minerals

SGS can identify the lowest-cost blending solution for raw and clean coals. This will allow you to maximize yield, and blend different quality coals to achieve the correct shipment specifications. SGS can help evaluate your various options and design a complete system including sampling systems and On-Line Analyzers. With the ability to blend different qualities of coal, you become more cost efficient. SGS provides the independent technical expertise necessary to identify and correct problems and optimize the performance of On-Line Analyzer Systems.

The quality of the coal feed going into a preparation plant is a key factor that influences product yields.  For example, run-of-mine coal with excessive ash can tax the preparation plant. On-Line Analyzer Systems that are properly designed, installed, calibrated and maintained can be an important part of maintaining a consistent quality feed of coal. Given the power of analyzer systems to sort coal consistently and accurately based on multiple quality factors (sulphur, ash, moisture, etc), there are many opportunities for coal producers to realize additional value.

By monitoring the quality of as-mined coal with a coal analyzer, the amount of out-of-seam dilution can be measured in real time. By minimizing this, the value of raw coal is increased. Once sorted into coal qualities that meet shipping specifications, the highest quality raw coal can possibly by-pass the prep plant, resulting in increased yield and a more efficient, profitable operation.

Analyzer-controlled blending provides additional benefits that help improve preparation plant yields.  The ability to blend multiple coal qualities enables a mine to produce a consistent coal feed for their prep plant or customers. SGS can evaluate your coal-blending process using conditional simulation.  The initial inputs for this process are the drill data and the mining plan.  After a review of the inputs for discrepancies, SGS will model the data by taking into account variations in dilution. Our experts continue by running repeated simulations, evaluating the data for further accuracy. This will enable an evaluation of the outputs of your new or existing blending system.