A Capacitively Coupled Sensing Approach for Copper Ore Quality Assessment: A Laboratory Feasibility Study

Extensive excavation in copper mines has led to a significant reduction in the percentage of copper in ore, making the refining process economically challenging. Therefore, identifying nonprofitable copper ore during the excavation phase helps avoid economic losses for refining companies. This paper proposes a noncontact sensor that can be integrated into the excavation bucket. The sensor distinguishes between profitable and nonprofitable ores. Additionally, the method aids in detecting the fill level of the excavation bucket. Effective resistive and reactive components of the ore in the bucket were obtained by a suitably designed interdigital capacitively coupled sensor along with the signal conditioning circuit. This approach achieves the objective of distinguishing between profitable and non-profitable ores.