ALL MACHINES

FLOW SORT’S DIAMOND RECOVERY TECHNOLOGY TODAY by PETER WOLF

We started designing X-ray diamond recovery machines way back in the early seventies. Our technology was then regarded as the best. At that time every DeBeers diamond mine used these X-ray recovery machines!

With all this success we thought then that we had mastered the art of diamond recovery. What possibly could be improved?

Looking back today, over some 40 years of ongoing development of these machines we can answer this question:

FLOW SORT MACHINES TODAY:

…can sort wet material of any size, eliminating costly drying in the final diamond recovery process

…no longer need high-tech compressed air supply for ejecting detected diamonds. They use computer-controlled ejector gates.

…don’t require special x-ray cooling water chillers. These sorters use normal mine water for this purpose!

…are fitted with a scanning optic device (SA PAT. 2011/07547), designed to measure the X-ray-induced luminescence of individual particles rather than batches thereof. At a scanning speed higher than the top speed of a Formula 1 car this equates to some 18 000 particles per second! This compares to traditional X-ray sorters that typically looked at batches of over 100 particles simultaneously.

…irradiate the material passing through them about 10 times longer as compared to sorters manufactured in ”the seventies”. This longer exposure of diamonds combined with a vastly improved optical luminescence detection capability, which is now typically 8 times more sensitive, achieved with optical scanning technology, moved FLOW SORT machines into a new category.           A “traditional” claim that Type II diamonds, which fall into the low luminescent category, cannot be recovered by X-ray luminescent-based machines no longer holds true for FLOW SORT machines! Proof thereof is that virtually all “famous” Type II diamonds that made headlines over the past 15 years were indeed recovered by FLOW SORT machines!

…are self-calibrating and automatically update and maintain their sorting parameters to assure long-term diamond recovery efficiency. In the past, this task required a reliable, skilled operator.

…incorporate our fully automatic tracer test system, another big step towards hands-off sorter operation.

…are made in a variety of models catering for all needs of the diamond mining industry. From bulk sorters that can handle over 100 tons per hour to final diamond re-concentration models which reduce concentrates to hand-sorting levels. They all however share some common underlying design principles: robust construction, built for easy operation and maintenance. Modular construction provides for the interchangeability of parts, and easy upgrading of sorters.

FLOW SORT’S development work and technology advancements, paid off with the sale of over 650 sorters to diamond producers in every corner of the world. A success that would not have been possible without FLOW’S uncompromising after-sales service