Thermo Fisher Scientific is a global supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services. Three experts from the company – Scott Marshall, Field Marketing Manager, Production Process & Analytics, Scott Ferguson, Senior Global Applications Specialist and Ellen Thomson, Senior Application Specialist – spoke to Ailbhe Goodbody about the latest sensor technologies for ore sorting for Spotlight Leader Conversations, CEEC’s series of video interviews with leading people in the mineral processing industry.
“Like so many of our customers and industry partners, Thermo Fisher has made the commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050,” said Scott Marshall. “In fact, we've set a series of short term targets by 2030 to ensure we get off to a good start and remain on track to achieve that goal.”
In addition, the company’s mining division is focused on developing technologies that can help its customers achieve their own net zero 2050 targets. Marshall added: “One of the key focuses at the moment is on developing a technology for the mining and material handling part of the plant to give much greater visibility to the grades going into the process, the variability of those grades and the potential for sorting… We think that if the industry can come together to achieve a really strong ore sorting program that allows miners to maximize their recovery, while minimizing the waste by sorting out the waste material before the grinding and processing part of the plant, we can save lots of power – and that will go a long way to helping achieve those net zero 2050 targets.”
For example, the PSM-500 particle size analyzer that Thermo Fisher Scientific launched in 2020 is specifically designed for comminution circuits, and optimises energy efficiency by ensuring that plants are not over-grinding their ore.