Unearthing the food chain’s first hidden link
What does an open-pit mine in chilly Finland have to do with the crusty baguette on your kitchen table? It might not be obvious at first glance, but they’re both part of the food chain – one right at the start, and one at the end.
Mining for nutrients
The mine in Siilinjärvi, Finland, produces phosphorus and is operated by Yara: the world’s largest producer of ammonia, nitrates, and fertilizers. Yara supplies farmers all around the world with the fertilizers they need to feed our ever-growing societies. In fact, despite there being more humans on the planet today than ever before, enough food is produced globally to feed one-and-a-half times the world’s population.
This incredible achievement is due to the efficiency of modern farms and the application of fertilizers like those made by Yara. Of all phosphorus mined around the world, approximately 90% of it goes toward plant nutrition – and demand is predicted to keep increasing, roughly in line with global food demand. So, the wheat in your delicious baguette may have benefited from phosphates dug up in Siilinjärvi!
Efficient production to feed the world
The Siilinjärvi mine is the only phosphorus mine in Europe, and efficiency is key to keeping up with demand. This includes monitoring the material extracted from the mine. The mined carbonatite is also processed on-site, which means that careful control is needed to optimize the conversion of phosphates and prevent waste.
Since 2016, Yara has used a custom automated system to analyze and control both the incoming mined material and the apatite beneficiation process. A fundamental part of this analysis is elemental and mineralogical characterization – after all, you need to know what’s in your materials in order to process them correctly. Before automation was implemented, feedback time on sampling materials was taking too long to keep up with production.
The X-ray advantage
To resolve this challenge, Yara’s automated system included both X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments. Both technologies can easily be integrated into an automated lab setup, and they have the benefit of being non-destructive, reducing waste.
XRF is an excellent analytical technique for the elemental characterization of phosphates, thanks to its precision and relatively rapid measurement times. During processing, Fe2O3, Al2O3, P2O5 and SiO2 all need to be carefully monitored – and by implementing automated XRF, the need for slow sampling is eliminated. Modern XRF instruments (such as Malvern Panalytical’s Zetium) deliver precise and highly repeatable results, enabling the automated system to run smoothly and minimize the need for human interventions.
In many ways, XRD combines well with XRF to produce a complementary analytical package. This remains true in the world of phosphates. Although part of the food chain, phosphates are also a mainstay of the mining industry, and certainly aren’t immune from one of the most serious challenges facing mining today: diminishing ore quality. As producers are faced with reliance on a diverse selection of ores, highly accurate, reliable, and rapid mineralogical analysis has never been more important.
So, elemental analysis provides one half of the picture through XRF, with the other half filled in by mineralogical analysis with XRD.
Phosphates for the future
The world’s population will continue to increase, although scientists’ predictions don’t all agree on the rate. But thanks to the progress made by generations of chemists, biologists, farmers – and miners! – we can be hopeful that food production will keep up with us.
Technologies like XRF and XRD are making our food chain more efficient than ever, and smart instruments like Malvern Panalytical’s Zetium Minerals (XRF) and Aeris Minerals (XRD) give producers a serious advantage in coping with the predicted rise in demand.
The Zetium Minerals has a specific edge for phosphate analysis – so critical in the food chain – thanks to its high stability. Individual calibrations can be used for months without time-consuming re-standardization, and results are reproducible and reliable. This provides a real boost to productivity, especially within a large or complex system where maintenance downtime has very real consequences.
As a compact XRD instrument, the Aeris Minerals is ideal for a range of applications throughout the mining value chain. Its plug-and-play setup makes it easy to add into existing systems, while its high throughput capacity means it easily keeps up with your production speed – whether at the mine or inside the processing plant.
A smarter food chain for the future
Both instruments are also automation-ready – which is key for producers looking to future-proof as the shift toward Industry 4.0 begins to gain momentum. This ‘next Industrial Revolution’ will bring even more ways for phosphate producers (armed with instruments like the Zetium and Aeris!) to benefit not only mining but all of society – thanks to their work in strengthening the food chain.
So, the next time you tuck into your favorite bread or make some tasty vegetable soup, remember the miners who made it possible!
Download the Zetium brochure here, the Aeris brochure here, or explore all our mining solutions on our dedicated mining hub here.