TESCAN TIMA delivers high speed, detailed measurements from sample batches unique to mineral processing and the mining industry. Using elemental analysis to provide quantitative data for mineral identification, TIMA does what no other analytical tool in a processing plant does: measure and sort particles for size, composition and texture. This allows operators to characterize and monitor the efficiency of mineral processing and provide rapid access to reproducible and actionable data. And to assure that TIMA operators can get straight to work and work efficiently, TIMA’s operating system features built-in application-specific workflows, along with a database of virtually all mineral species (about 5000 entries) to make the task of interpreting mineral presence significantly easier.
Key Benefits Applications
- Understand complex mineral relationships – at the size-by-size and particle by particle level – and optimize processing plant performance using the built-in metallurgical distribution analysis system
- Collect high speed, detailed measurements on more types of samples, with the better mineral chemical resolution, increased sensitivity for low abundance elements and good sampling statistics using the 4 EDS detectors and TIMA’s unique spectral summing algorithm
- Maintain continuous operation, rapid turnaround with a minimal number of laboratory operators using the options for remote, multi-user off-line analysis with automation software to support the unattended operation
- Analyze base metals, precious metals, and other commodities using built-in quantification and the comprehensive mineral identification, mineral composition, and grain/particle textural classification with user-defined scripts
- Process samples in large batches and maintain high-efficiency data collection using the continuous unattended operation
- Free-up instrument time for interactive microanalysis or automated measurement and by taking advantage of TIMA’s offline data analysis and reporting capability
- Recovery: discover the proportion of recoverable losses, the proportions of hazardous elements (e.g. arsenic and antimony), and diluents in concentrates
- Flotation: differentiate the recovery of multiple minerals containing the same element e.g. copper in chalcopyrite, chalcocite, and covellite
- Comminution: predict target grind size in future feed ores to optimize mineral liberation for flotation and leaching
- Leaching: quantify the degree of carbonaceous minerals to predict the degree of “preg-robbing”
- Smelting: plan concentrates with similar smelting properties
- Geometallurgy: link geology and metallurgy for optimal mine planning and mineral processing
- Plant surveys: add detailed mineralogical and liberation values to mass flow and chemical assay data
- Plant monitoring: analyze daily, weekly, and monthly plant samples with multiple size fractions from multiple streams
- Metallurgical modelling: populate your models with customized particle-by-particle data (morphological, mineralogical and chemical composition, liberation degree, etc.
