National Research Council of Canada

Daniel Gagnon

Mohamad Sabsabi

Alain Blouin

Paul Bouchard

Josette El Haddad

Antoine Hamel

Elton Soares De Lima Filho

A system for the online sorting of ore samples based on mineralogy analysis includes a conveyor moving a stream of the ore samples along a conveying path, a LIBS module, a height measuring device, a focus controller and an airflow system. The LIBS module projects a LIBS laser beam along an optical path focused on an analysis spot of dimensions of the order of one or a few mineral components of the ore samples, and collects a returning LIBS light signal. The height measuring device and focus controller collaborate to adjust in real-time the focus of the LIBS laser beam to move the analysis spot perpendicularly to the conveyor according to a height of the ore samples crossing the optical path. The air flow system moves particles away from the optical path. A processing unit performs the mineralogy analysis of the ore sample based on the LIBS light signal.

Growing community of inventors

St-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, Canada

Daniel Gagnon