Alrosa has announced that it will begin field tests in September for a pioneering technology aimed at boosting productivity and speeding up diamond extraction, with plans to roll it out globally if successful.
According to a statement on the company’s website last week, the new unit will quadruple kimberlite ore processing capacity to 300 tonnes per hour.
Innovative Diamond Separator
The new technology—a diamond separator—will sort diamonds from waste rock by combining two methods: X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and radiography, enabling faster and more precise diamond recovery.
Unlike previous stationary models, the universal separator features a containerized design, allowing for easy transport between sites and direct use at mining locations, including outdoor environments.
A Globally Unique Design
“Andrey Naskailev, head of Alrosa’s Innovation and Technology Center, said: ‘The creation of the universal separator was carried out in close cooperation between teams from the Innovation and Technology Center, the Burevestnik Innovation Center, and the Udachny Mining and Processing Plant of Alrosa. Many technical solutions were developed from scratch—there is no equivalent to this device anywhere in the world.’”
From Pilot Trials to Field Operations
Following a series of successful pilot tests, Alrosa engineers produced a working prototype of the separator, which demonstrated stable performance across all systems during trials at the Burevestnik Center.
The unit is now deployed at one of the company’s processing plants and will undergo field testing next month. If results are positive, Alrosa plans to begin large-scale commercial production.
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