A process for recovering value metals from ore comprising rock, including the steps of preselection of a grade of ore to be microwaved to form an ore stream; subjecting the ore stream to microwave energy to partially fracture rocks in the stream and form a partially fractured ore stream; crushing the partially fractured ore stream to preferentially fracture the pre-weakened ore, to form a crushed ore stream; and Screening the crushed ore stream to form a fines fraction ore stream for further processing; and a gangue fraction that may justify further processing.

Disclosed is a system for sorting copper-bearing ore to select portions having a desired target copper content. The system includes a first magnetic resonance analyzer for measuring the copper content of ore input into the system and a controller that controls a diverter to divert portions of the input ore to a collection path when the copper content meets or exceeds a predetermined cut-off value. The system also includes a second magnetic resonance analyzer to measure the copper content of the ore in the collection path. The measurements are then fed back to the controller where the controller can adjust the predetermined cut-off value above, up or down, to optimize the yield of ore with the targeted copper content.

Disclosed is a system for sorting copper-bearing ore to select portions having a desired target copper content. The system includes a first magnetic resonance analyzer for measuring the copper content of ore input into the system and a controller that controls a diverter to divert portions of the input ore to a collection path when the copper content meets or exceeds a predetermined cut-off value. The system also includes a second magnetic resonance analyzer to measure the copper content of the ore in the collection path. The measurements are then fed back to the controller where the controller can adjust the predetermined cut-off value above, up or down, to optimize the yield of ore with the targeted copper content.

A sorting apparatus is provided for sorting selected magnetically attractable articles from a stream of articles including non-selected magnetically attractable articles. The apparatus may include a conveyor for conveying the stream of articles. The conveyor may include a conveyor belt formed in an endless loop including a discharge end configured to launch the stream of articles off the conveyor. A conveyor guide may be located inside of the endless loop adjacent the discharge end. The conveyor guide may be configured to support the conveyor belt such that the conveyor belt slides on the conveyor guide along a downwardly curved path. An array of magnets may be arranged inside of the endless loop for interacting with the stream of articles as the stream of articles passes off the discharge end.

The present invention provides a method for sorting lithium cells, which includes quick sorting and high-precision sorting. The method provided by the present invention can be used for quickly and accurately classifying cells based on self-discharge, and is applicable to large-scale self-discharge sorting due to low cost of adopted equipment. Through the quick sorting method and the high-precision sorting method in the present invention, cells with large self-discharge rates can be eliminated from a batch of cells, cells with similar self-discharge rates can be sorted into groups, and an application range is wider.

The present invention provides a method for sorting lithium cells, which includes quick sorting and high-precision sorting. The method provided by the present invention can be used for quickly and accurately classifying cells based on self-discharge, and is applicable to large-scale self-discharge sorting due to low cost of adopted equipment. Through the quick sorting method and the high-precision sorting method in the present invention, cells with large self-discharge rates can be eliminated from a batch of cells, cells with similar self-discharge rates can be sorted into groups, and an application range is wider.

Used batteries are screened based on a measured Constant-Current Impulse Ratio. A used battery is charged using a Constant Current (CC) until a voltage target is reached, and the current integrated to obtain the CC charge applied, Q.sub.CC. Then the battery continues to be charged using a Constant Voltage (CV) of the voltage target until the charging current falls to a minimum current target. The current is integrated over the CV period to obtain the CV charge applied, Q.sub.CV. The measured CCIR is the ratio of Q.sub.CC to (Q.sub.CC+Q.sub.CV). The measured CCIR is input to a calibration curve function to obtain a modeled State of Health (SOH) value. The used battery is sorted for reuse or disposal based on the modeled SOH value. The calibration curve function is obtained by aging new batteries to obtain CCIR and SOH data that are modeled using a neural network.

Used batteries are screened based on a measured Constant-Current Impulse Ratio. A used battery is charged using a Constant Current (CC) until a voltage target is reached, and the current integrated to obtain the CC charge applied, Q.sub.CC. Then the battery continues to be charged using a Constant Voltage (CV) of the voltage target until the charging current falls to a minimum current target. The current is integrated over the CV period to obtain the CV charge applied, Q.sub.CV. The measured CCIR is the ratio of Q.sub.CC to (Q.sub.CC+Q.sub.CV). The measured CCIR is input to a calibration curve function to obtain a modeled State of Health (SOH) value. The used battery is sorted for reuse or disposal based on the modeled SOH value. The calibration curve function is obtained by aging new batteries to obtain CCIR and SOH data that are modeled using a neural network.

The present invention relates to a process and to a system for eliminating the expandability of steel-plant slag, which comprises a primary crusher (3) to reduce the fragments according to their granulometry; a magnetic separator (4) to remove metallic fragments bigger than a determined granulometry (5); a rotary dryer (6) to dry slag free from bigger metallic fragments; an impact mill (11) to disaggregate and fragment slag particles that are bigger than a predetermined granulometry; a classifier (12) for aero-classification and drag of fine and superfine particles; a cooler (17) for cooling slag particles bigger than a predetermined granulometry by means of heat exchange and removal of the fine and superfine particles that were not collected by the impact mill (11); a vibrating sieve (21) provided with two or more decks (23, 24, and 25) with screens of predetermined sizes; low-intensity magnetic separators (26, 27 and 28), with generation of non-magnetic slag fractions free from metallic iron and from iron monoxide, and of magnetic fractions composed by metallic iron and iron monoxide; and low-intensity magnetic separators (35, 36 and 37) to reprocess the magnetic fractions with generation of concentrate with high metallic iron contents and a product with high concentration of iron monoxide.

The present invention relates to a process and to a system for eliminating the expandability of steel-plant slag, which comprises a primary crusher (3) to reduce the fragments according to their granulometry; a magnetic separator (4) to remove metallic fragments bigger than a determined granulometry (5); a rotary dryer (6) to dry slag free from bigger metallic fragments; an impact mill (11) to disaggregate and fragment slag particles that are bigger than a predetermined granulometry; a classifier (12) for aero-classification and drag of fine and superfine particles; a cooler (17) for cooling slag particles bigger than a predetermined granulometry by means of heat exchange and removal of the fine and superfine particles that were not collected by the impact mill (11); a vibrating sieve (21) provided with two or more decks (23, 24, and 25) with screens of predetermined sizes; low-intensity magnetic separators (26, 27 and 28), with generation of non-magnetic slag fractions free from metallic iron and from iron monoxide, and of magnetic fractions composed by metallic iron and iron monoxide; and low-intensity magnetic separators (35, 36 and 37) to reprocess the magnetic fractions with generation of concentrate with high metallic iron contents and a product with high concentration of iron monoxide.