White gold

Premium talc with sensor-based sorting technology

1 euroTalc manages the Elisabeth mine, located in Gemerská Poloma in Slovakia with one of the richest talc deposits in Europe

2 State-of-the-art technology allows the production of high-purity white talc

3 Feeding the crushed material to the sorting machine

4 The REDWAVE ROX belt sorter processes the fine material and the REDWAVE ROX chute sorter the coarse material

It was the 1980's in the Slovak district of Rožňava: during exploration in the area, a talc deposit was discovered. Soon it became clear that it was not just an ordinary finding but one of the largest in the world. Today, more than 40 years later, Slovakia is home to one of the richest talc deposits in Europe, operated by the mining company euroTalc.

Talc, also known as white gold, is a mineral with extensive applications in industry. As an essential compound used on a daily basis, proper processing is extremely important to ensure that the end product is of the highest quality and purity.

Getting to know the mine

This natural treasure of the European Union is located more than 4 km deep in the highlands. The Gemerska Poloma mine has a deposit of 1.6 million t of talc to date; however, experts estimate that there are still 15 million t of the mineral lying deeper within the mountain. The modern technology employed in the mine and during the subsequent material processing makes it possible to produce more than 60 000 t of high-purity white talc annually. The talc in this deposit represents a part of a sizeable lenticular carbonate body with mainly magnesite composition. This raw material talc deposit comes from what is considered one of the world's most modern mines. Expectedly, the quality and quantitative parameters are high, as the talc produced here reaches a degree of whiteness of over 90 % and a purity of more than 97 %.

State-of-the-art sorting technology

In order to obtain minerals of the highest quality, accurate processing is crucial. In 2021, euroTalc's new sorting plant, built by REDWAVE, was assembled to further meet the increased demand for its already well-known top quality talc. REDWAVE was involved in the whole process from design, development, delivery, installation through the commissioning of the plant. The entire system encompasses crushing, screening, conveying, storage, washing and sorting stages. The sorting is based on NIR-SSI and colour detection anchored around two REDWAVE machines: a REDWAVE ROX Belt sorter for the fine material and a REDWAVE ROX Chute sorter for the coarse material.

Green mining

The concept of “green mining” has gained momentum in recent years as it seeks to improve the environmental performance of the mining sector. euroTalc has followed these principles as a mining business with a focus on ecological angles and a long-term understanding. Decisions regarding research, investment, and advanced technology acquisition are determined by this interest. From the beginning, the relationship between REDWAVE and euroTalc has been based on balancing these ideals and achieving the objectives without compromising the required performance. Improving practices and processes within the mines is indispensable on our way to more sustainable use of resources.

“The test with samples of our material at REDWAVE gave a good prospect for the project. The sorting results in operation of the new plant are topping that tests which is more than satisfactory. Due to Covid-19 restrictions during the erection of the plant we have to thank REDWAVE that we could keep the original time schedule and the plant was taken into production on time,” says Florian Schoiswohl, Project Manager at euroTalc.