Enginuity coarse particle flotation push: microwave preconditioning lens for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Enginuity is redirecting its industrial microwave systems towards mineral processing, using more than 900 kW of installed 915 MHz generation capacity to precondition ore and concentrates ahead of grinding, flotation and leaching. The company, operating from South Africa and Switzerland, is targeting improved liberation and energy use by selectively heating sulphide and gangue phases before comminution. Rising adoption of coarse particle flotation is a key driver, as microwave preconditioning could enable coarser grind sizes while maintaining recovery.
Technical Brief
- Thermal shock from rapid internal heating is used to propagate microfractures along grain boundaries.
Our Take
The 900 kW, 915 MHz ore-treatment installation puts Enginuity into the same scale bracket as pilot-to-early-commercial microwave systems tracked in our mining database, suggesting this is beyond lab-scale R&D and edging towards plant-integration trials.
Locating this microwave preconditioning work between South Africa and Switzerland aligns with other high-tech mining equipment stories in our coverage, where design and IP often sit in Europe while test work and potential deployment are tied to African ore bodies and operating mines.
International Mining’s involvement here mirrors its role in recent IMARC and AIMEX coverage, signalling that microwave-based preconditioning is being framed alongside other enabling technologies for critical minerals and coarse particle flotation rather than as a niche processing curiosity.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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