Determination of percentage of mineral in beach sand using digital image processing techniques

Abstract

Determination of percentage ofmineral is extremely important in beach sand mining industry. To select a site for extraction and processing heavy minerals it is important to assess the rough concentrations. The traditional methods are time consuming, costly, high labour intensive and difficult to handle the equipment. A method was developed to determine the percentage of minerals in raw sand by Digital Image Processing. HSV colour space was selected due to its wide range when compared to other colour spaces. Non over lapping samples were analyzed in this research. Most appropriate background was selected using colour analysis of HSV values. Background was differentiated from the minerals by using HSV values. By analyzing the pixels, area occupied by the minerals can be determined and using weight to area relationship, the weight percentage of minerals can be identified. Validation was carried out and using the statics accuracy was estimated. There are some limitations despite the benefits.