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Automated ore texture classification using µ-XRF imaging and unsupervised machine learning: Correlation with surface hardness
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Minerals and Metallurgical Engineering.ORCID iD: 0009-0002-4721-3137
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Minerals and Metallurgical Engineering.ORCID iD: 0009-0009-3383-0004
Circular Economy Solutions Unit, Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), FI-02151 Espoo, Finland.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6442-7538
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Minerals and Metallurgical Engineering.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5979-5608
2025 (English)In: Minerals Engineering, ISSN 0892-6875, E-ISSN 1872-9444, Vol. 234, article id 109744Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

As the geometallurgy concept gains more visibility, the importance of parameters, in particular, ore texture, in downstream processing performance is increasingly recognized, yet methodologies for fast, unbiased, and automated texture classification remain limited, particularly for complex and low-grade deposits. This study proposes an alternative approach with potential for automated ore texture classification by combining micro-X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) imaging with unsupervised machine learning. Drill core samples from northern Sweden iron ore deposits were analyzed using μ-XRF to produce high-resolution mineral and X-ray intensity maps, which were converted to grayscale, divided into patches, and processed with Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) for feature extraction. Additionally, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied for dimensionality reduction and k-means clustering for textural classification. The integration of mineral and X-ray maps improved classification accuracy, with clustering results effectively distinguishing major textural groups, despite some misclassifications attributed to pixel intensity variations. Evaluation of possible correlation between the classified textures and Leeb hardness measurements was carried out. Promising results were obtained, however, future advancements, such as the application of deep learning and alternative clustering algorithms, could further enhance the accuracy and applicability of this technique.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025. Vol. 234, article id 109744
Keywords [en]
Ore texture, Micro-XRF, Texture classification, Unsupervised machine learning, Image clustering
National Category
Mineral and Mine Engineering
Research subject
Mineral Processing; Centre - Centre for Advanced Mining & Metallurgy (CAMM)
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-114473DOI: 10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109744ISI: 001562676500001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105014175522OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-114473DiVA, id: diva2:1992976
Funder
Luleå University of Technology, CAMM
Note

Validerad;2025;Nivå 2;2025-10-22 (u4);

Full text license: CC BY

Available from: 2025-08-28 Created: 2025-08-28 Last updated: 2025-11-28Bibliographically approved

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Viana, Aghata ZarelliMånbro, CarolinaParian, Mehdi

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