NextOre Ltd

NextOre supplies sophisticated mineralogical ore grade measurement and bulk sorting equipment to hard rock metals mines across the globe. NextOre's core product line of MR Analysers was developed by researchers at CSIRO, Australia's federal research organisation, to provide the fastest and most accurate bulk grade measurement of any available technology.

Bulk ore sorting evaluates the contained economic minerals and associated value of ore in bulk 'pods', as opposed to particles of rock, and separates pods of high value from waste. Bulk ore sorting is typically done on-conveyor, where a pod represents several linear meters of primary crushed ore weighing between 50kg and 5 tonnes, depending on the operational throughput of the mine and sensing intervals. NextOre’s analysers can also be used to measure average grade of individual trucks and to enable real-time dispatch control based on truck grades.

Bulk ore sorting systems enable a step-change in mining performance by providing a capital-efficient and simple methodology for sorting of ROM and primary crushed ores. NextOre's cutting-edge MR Analysers combined with bulk materials handling infrastructure now makes it a reality to implement ore sorting at the scale of large mining operations processing tens of millions of tonnes of ore per annum.

With second-by-second accurate measurements of mineral grade, mining companies can identify and separate pods of waste from ore, in real-time, before it reaches a processing plant. Pods of waste can account for significant portions of process feed ore, and by removing them, processing plants can be built smaller while producing the same amount of metal product. The impact is materially improved project economics through reduced capital costs, water and electricity consumption, and reduced tailings dam sizes.

Magnetic Resonance (MR) technology

NextOre is the global exclusive supplier of MR analysers, which lead the mining industry in speed and accuracy of grade measurement for whole-of-ore grades on conveyor belts.

MR stands for Magnetic Resonance, a similar technology to that of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI machines, which have been used for decades in the healthcare industry. The MR Analyser is an application of a powerful and well-proven technology to a heavy basic industry. 

MR Analysers directly measure the mineral content of 100% of material on the conveyor belt, regardless of its size, shape, moisture content or rock type. The technology is highly penetrative and the sensor is designed to have an even measurement field within the full sensor volume.

MR Analysers are factory tuned for direct detection of the dominant economic minerals in ore. Rather than detecting a physical or chemical characteristic of the ore at surface and using that information to infer grade, the MR Analyser directly measures the number of metal atoms in the target mineral phase. As such, MR Analysers do not produce grade estimates, they produce direct grade measurements and miners can have confidence in using the resulting data for operational decision making.