AU2020394888A1 - XRT equipment auditing system and method of using same - Google Patents

Abstract

Simulants or Tracers (20) for XRT equipment (8), commonly used in valuable mineral or gemstone processing and sorting, are disclosed. The invention also extends to an XRT equipment auditing system (10) and a method of using simulants or tracers (20) in said system. The invention further extends to a process monitoring method which uses such simulants or tracers (20) to monitor the efficiency of a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process in which valuable minerals or gemstones are recovered from their ores.

Description

XRT EQUIPMENT AUDITING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING SAME

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to mineral and gemstone processing. In particular, the invention relates to simulants for XRT sorting equipment commonly used in valuable mineral or gemstone processing and sorting. More particularly, the invention relates to an XRT sorting equipment auditing system and a method of using simulants in said system. The invention extends to a process monitoring method which uses such simulants to monitor the efficiency of a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process in which valuable minerals or gemstones are recovered from their ores.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In the mineral and gemstone processing field, X-ray transmission (XRT) sorting machines are commonly used to recognize, and separate material based on their specific atomic density.

An XRT sorting machine, utilized in mineral and gemstone processing, is designed to handle high-tonnage feeds and includes a conveyor system onto which valuable ore or gemstone rich materials are continuously deposited before being subjected to irradiation. Commonly, an electric X-ray tube, forming part of the XRT sorting machine, creates a broad-band radiation which penetrates material conveyed on the conveyor system and provides spectral absorption information that is measured with an X-ray camera using a suitable sensor. The information sensed by the sensor is processed to provide a detailed “density image” of material on the conveyor system allowing it to be separated into high- and low-density fractions. If the sensor detects material to be sorted from the rest of the material on the conveyor system, it commands a control unit to open the appropriate valves of an ejection module at the end of the conveyor system.

XRT sorting machines can also be referred to as X-ray transmission sorters. These sorters work on the concept of utilizing the ability of a material to absorb X-ray radiation. It is well known that diamonds consist of carbon, which is a light element with atomic number six. A diamond absorbs less X-ray radiation compared to ancillary minerals, which contain heavier elements such as silicon, calcium, magnesium, oxygen, iron, and the like.

The XRT sorting machine or sorter thus measures X-ray radiation by means of dedicated sensors after penetrating a particle, gemstone or mineral. Depending on the intensity of the radiation passed through the particle, gemstone or mineral, a conclusion can be formed about the atomic number of elements contained in an analyzed particle, gemstone, or mineral. Since a diamond consists of the light element carbon, the intensity of radiation that passed through the diamond will be higher, compared to the radiation intensity passed through any other particle of ancillary mineral and in this way diamonds passing the conveyor system at a particular conveyor are detected and can be sorted from the remainder of the material on the conveyor system.

Ubiquitously, sorting or separation of detected diamonds by way of an XRT sorting machine is effected by way of jets of compressed air forcing detected diamonds into a separate collection chamber.

Tracers form an essential component in the functioning of XRT sorting machines. Tracers have properties that enable them to be recovered by XRT sorting machines. Through calibration, the machine’s detection sensitivity can be adjusted to the most cost-effective level, thus maximising diamond recovery and minimising the volume of waste material recovered. To aid this procedure, tracers are typically manufactured in sizes such as, for example, 2mm, 3.2mm, 5mm, 8mm, 12mm, 25mm and 38mm to simulate typical diamond sizes.

The use of simulants or tracers in valuable mineral or gemstone recovery processes such as, for example, diamond recovery makes it possible for management at a processing site, and particularly where XRT sorting machines are used, to identify the stages in ore handling or subsequent processing, where valuable minerals or gemstones may be trapped or damaged in order to take corrective action.

In the diamond recovery process, for example, the use of tracers throughout the entire plant ecosystem; and particularly the location where these tracers end up, informs management about the functioning of the XRT sorting machine. A faulty XRT sorting machine may, for example, have a valve associated with a jet of compressed air which is not opening or closing as intended and thus blasting at required force is not achieved. As a result, a diamond, after being identified on the conveyor system as a diamond when it passed the X-ray camera, may not be blasted into a concentrate chamber, and may end up in a tailings chamber (which are discarded).

The financial benefits to eliminating and avoiding such errors are considerable. Without the use of simulants or so-called tracers, it would be virtually impossible to quantify accurately the losses attributable to avoidable diamond damage or losses. Diamond damage generally occurs most frequently at DMS cyclone feed pumps, concentrate transfer pumps, pneumatic transfer into bins, and at other transfer points.

While carbon-based tracers or simulants do exist, batches thereof are currently manually introduced to valuable mineral or gemstone recovery plants and processes. After lapse of a period of time, these tracers are retrieved from various areas in the plant and the areas where they report are then used as an indication as to whether the XRT sorting machine functions appropriately or not, e.g. with no losses occurring or with problems identified because of displaced tracers. A displaced tracer or simulant may for example be uncovered by plant operators in the tailings section after a day or two when it is commonly expected to uncover tracers in the concentrate section, which then necessitates inspection, thus further delaying processing and causing a plant hold-up.

This invention seeks to, at least in part, address the abovementioned problems by providing an XRT sorting equipment auditing system and a method of using improved simulants in said system to increase overall efficiency of the valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a broad aspect of this invention there is provided an XRT sorting equipment auditing system comprising one or more X-ray readable valuable mineral or gemstone simulants; a control and simulant tracking subsystem; one or more monitor devices, each defining a monitored zone located at a critical area of a valuable mineral or gemstone processing plant; wherein each simulant comprises communication means integrally formed, or of unitary construction, therewith for wirelessly communicating with the control and simulant tracking subsystem via said one or more monitor devices; and wherein said control and simulant tracking subsystem controls dispensing, and real-time location, of said one or more valuable mineral or gemstone simulants as they pass through said one or more monitored zones.

The XRT sorting equipment auditing system may comprise a simulant dispensing apparatus linked to the control and simulant tracking subsystem and operable to automate consecutive dispensing of simulants into the valuable mineral or gemstone recovery plant. The simulant dispensing apparatus may be manually or autonomously operated. In an embodiment, the simulant dispensing apparatus may be configured to cease operation upon receipt of a signal from the control and simulant tracking subsystem, via the one or more monitoring devices, indicating a simulant finds itself in a location where one would not expect it to be should the XRT sorting machine function optimally.

In an embodiment, each monitored zone may be selected from the group of critical areas of a valuable mineral or gemstone processing plant comprising: DMS cyclone feed pumps, concentrate transfer pumps, conveyor system, pneumatic transfer components into bins, simulant dispensing apparatus, concentrate collection chambers, tailings collection chambers.

In an embodiment, the monitored zone may be an electromagnetically monitored zone utilizing a RFID tag able to communicate with said one or more monitor devices; alternatively, the monitor device within the monitored zone may be adapted to monitor simulant presence utilizing any one or more of the following technologies: metal detection, bar code detection, optical detection, optical recognition, microelectromechanical detection, and radio frequency.

In an embodiment of the invention, a first monitored zone may be located within a distance of between about one to six meters from the tailings collection chamber, a second monitored zone is located within a distance of between about one to six meters from the concentrate collection chamber, and a third monitored zone is located within a distance of between about one to six meters from the simulant dispensing apparatus.

In an embodiment of the invention, each monitored zone may comprise a receiver for receiving geographical information about a simulant within the vicinity of said receiver; alternatively, a transceiver for both receiving geographical information about a simulant within the vicinity of the receiver and for transmitting said geographical information to the control and simulant tracking subsystem. In an embodiment of the invention, the one or more valuable mineral or gemstone simulants may be weighted to imitate the relative density of the valuable mineral or gemstone to be recovered. The relative density of said simulant may be 3.5, obtained by incorporating lead or tungsten into the simulant.

In an embodiment of the invention, the communication means provided within the simulant may comprise a transponder.

In an embodiment of the invention, each simulant may comprise an unbranched linear polymer; alternatively, a ceramic material.

In a preferred embodiment, the simulant may comprise at least 50 mol % of — CH2O- repeat units in the main plastics polymer chain, more preferably, polyoxymethylene. A coiled antenna may be provided within each simulant, which antenna is in contact with a RFID tag and disposed within said unbranched linear polymer; alternatively, ceramic material.

In a preferred embodiment, the simulant may be over-moulded with an outer layer of polyoxymethylene protecting the inner coiled antenna and RFID tag.

The invention extends to a method of auditing an XRT sorting machine used in a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process plant, the method comprising providing an XRT sorting equipment auditing system as described herein above; dispensing valuable mineral or gemstone simulants from an automated simulant dispensing apparatus so as to cause flow thereof through the plant; monitoring location data about said simulants in real time via discretely placed monitor devices on or around said XRT sorting equipment and employing a control and simulant tracking subsystem to communicate with said monitor devices and present real time information about the functioning of the XRT sorting machine and the processing plant to authorised operators or management. In addition, the method may include for the control and simulant tracking subsystem to communicate sequential opening or closing or starting or shutting down instructions to XRT equipment linked to said subsystem based on real time simulant location data obtained from the monitor devices.

The invention further extends to a method of improving the efficiency of a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process in which valuable minerals or gemstones are recovered from their ores, the method comprising providing an XRT sorting equipment auditing system as described herein above; dispensing valuable mineral or gemstone simulants from an automated simulant dispensing apparatus so as to cause flow thereof through the plant; monitoring geographical data about said simulants in real time via discretely placed monitor devices located all around the plant; and employing a control and simulant tracking subsystem to communicate with said monitor devices and present real time information about the functioning of the process plant to authorised operators or management.

Moreover, the above described method may include for the control and simulant tracking subsystem to communicate sequential opening or closing or starting or shutting down instructions to plant processing equipment such as, for example, valves, pumps and the like, linked to said subsystem based on real time simulant location data obtained from the monitor devices.

Finally, the invention extends to a simulant or tracer for use in a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process, having a weighted body imitating the relative density of the gemstone or valuable mineral to be recovered.

The simulant or tracer may comprise a carbonaceous matrix having an RFID tag connected to an antenna. The carbonaceous matrix may comprise an unbranched linear plastics polymer characterized in having a high degree of stiffness, dimensional stability and corrosion resistance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying non-limiting representations, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an XRT sorting equipment auditing system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 shows an isometric view of an over-moulded simulant used in the XRT sorting equipment auditing system of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows an isometric view of the simulant of Figure 2, with a portion of the over-moulded component removed;

Figure 4 shows an isometric view of a core portion of the simulant of Figure 2;

Figure 5 shows an isometric view of a core half of the simulant of Figure 2; and

Figure 6 shows a control and simulant tracking subsystem for the XRT sorting equipment auditing system of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description that follows below is not intended to limit the invention in any way and is provided only to describe specific embodiments of the invention.

This description is presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show operational details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the Figures making apparent to those skilled in the art how at least one form of the invention may be embodied in practice.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, an XRT sorting equipment auditing system (10) is shown for measuring or monitoring or auditing XRT sorting equipment when used in a live valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process plant. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system (10) is also appreciated when used to improve recovery of valuable minerals or gemstones during processing on a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process plant.

The XRT sorting equipment auditing system (10), as depicted in Figure 1 , includes a XRT sorting machine (8), a suitable power source (not shown) and control circuitry (best shown in Figure 6) for detecting misplacement of valuable mineral or gemstone simulants, also commonly referred to as tracers. The system (10) is further believed to aid operational staff and management to make improved and knowledgeable decisions on the processing plant, in real time. The system (10) is designed to increase valuable mineral or gemstone recoveries, especially of diamondiferous ore during a recovery process thereof as XRT sorting machine malfunction can easily and promptly be detected during live operation of the XRT sorting machine such that corrective actions can be taken in good time thereby to reduce plant shutdowns and unnecessary losses often caused by timeous searching for unaccounted for manually dispensed tracers.

The XRT sorting equipment auditing system (10), as shown, consists of three monitor devices or antennas (12.1), (12.2), and (12.3). Naturally, any number of such devices may be employed, but for the sake of describing one embodiment of the invention, three are shown. Each monitor device or antenna (12.1), (12.2), and (12.3) defines a monitored zone (not shown) located in proximity to the XRT sorting machine (8). The monitored zone would preferably range anywhere between 1 and 6 meters from the antennas (12.1), (12.2), and (12.3), but it will be appreciated that in some instances, the monitored zones may be positioned further away from equipment. The antennas (12.1), (12.2), and (12.3) each have a range extending easily up to 6 meters so that any passing simulant can easily be monitored by the antennas when it passes by. It is envisaged that Mono-static, Bi-static, High Gain, Wideband, Near-Field, Ring antennas, en Co-Axial antennas may be used.

As shown in Figure 1 , graded ore are conveyed via a flow path (6) (indicated generally by dotted lines in Figure 1) through screens and through the XRT sorting machine (8) to eventually end up being sorted with the aid of air jets (not shown) into concentrate fractions that report in a concentrate chamber (16) and tailings fractions that report in a tailings chamber (18).

When diamondiferous graded ore passes the x-ray radiation sensors on the conveyor system of the XRT sorting machine (8), its carbon signature, geographical location on the conveyor belt, as well as its speed of traveling thereon are measured and one of a number of air jet valves positioned at an edge of the belt is signalled to blast and force, at an accurately determined moment in time, the detected diamondiferous graded ore into the concentrate chamber (16) when it approaches the edge of the belt. Similarly, the tracer or simulants, also present in the feed and dispersed between the diamondiferous graded ore and non- diamondiferous graded ore need to be detected by the XRT sorting machine (8) and also forced to the concentrate chamber (16). If this does not happen or if all the dispensed tracers or simulants cannot be accounted for in the concentrate chamber after a period of time, the XRT sorting machine may have an error that requires attention.

The X-ray readable simulants or tracers (20) of the invention as shown in Figures 2 to 5 are particularly suited to address the problems associated with manual tracer usage and technology in the recovery of gemstones such as diamonds and the like.

The simulants (20) each include communication means (26) integrally formed, or of unitary construction, with the simulant body for wirelessly communicating with a control and simulant tracking subsystem (best shown in Figure 6) via the antennas (12.1), (12.2), and (12.3). The communication means (26) in each simulant (20) consists of a conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out and received. The conductor consists commonly of a copper wire or set of copper wires spun around a core (24) of each simulant (20).

The simulants (20) each further include a weighted body imitating the relative density of a diamond. In such a case, the relative density of the simulant (20) will be between about 3.3 to 3.5 obtained by incorporating lead or tungsten (28) or other relatively heavy metal into the simulant (20). Obviously, it is anticipated that in other applications of this invention, the simulant may have a weighted body representing other gemstones such as emeralds, rubies or another valuable mineral which is to be recovered and they may have different relative densities.

The simulant (20) also includes a carbonaceous matrix (22), best shown in Figure 2, making up a major portion of the core and locating a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag or chip (not shown) connected to the conductor (26). The carbonaceous matrix is important since the XRT sorting machine (8) will not be able to detect same should it not contain a carbon-based matrix. In comparison, Figure 2, compared to Figure 3, shows how the core (24) of the simulant (20) is over-moulded with an outer layer of polyoxymethylene protecting the inner coiled antenna or conductor (26) and RFID tag or chip.

The simulant (20) is typically manufactured in a plastics moulding process catering for high production rates. Injection moulding has proven to deliver suitable simulants (20) for continuous use in a harsh plant environment. The material from which the simulant (20) is manufactured can be any unbranched linear plastics polymer characterized in having a high degree of stiffness, dimensional stability and corrosion resistance. However, it is believed that the simulant (20) functions effectively when the manufacturing material consists of at least 50 mol % of — CH20-repeat units in the main plastics polymer chain. An example of such material is polyoxymethylene (POM). Polyoxymethylene (POM), sometimes called polyformaldehyde or acetal, is the most important polyacetal. It is a highly crystalline thermoplastic that is known for its high flexural and tensile strength, stiffness, hardness, and low creep under stress. It also has a low coefficient of friction, excellent chemical resistance and outstanding fatigue properties. The simulant is believed to take any polygonal- or spherical shape and will not be limited to the generally square outline as shown in the drawings.

In use, effective auditing of an XRT sorting machine (8) can be conducted in a live valuable mineral or gemstone recovery processing environment by employment of the XRT readable simulants (20) and the system (10) to provide authorised plant operators and/or management with real time in formation about the location of dispensed tracers/simulants (20) so that corrective action can be attended to in a prompt manner.

Firstly, a dispensing apparatus (14) is utilised to continuously or on demand dispense multiple simulants or tracers (20) at selected locations into the process feed flow (6). In so doing, the control and simulant tracking subsystem, as shown in Figure 6, and numbered as the control unit (30) will monitor, count and track movement of each simulant (20) through the plant. Thereafter, geographical data about said simulants (20) are monitored in real time via discretely placed monitor devices or antennas (12.1), (12.2), and (12.3). Thirdly, a computer program written for the control and simulant tracking subsystem functions to effect live communication between dispensed simulants (20), the antennas (12.1), (12.2), and (12.3) and the subsystem. Live data is recorded and manipulated by the control unit (30) to suit process control. For example, live geographical location data of simulants (20) may drive the control and tracking subsystem or control unit (30) to present sequential opening or closing or starting or shutting down instructions to the XRT sorting machine (8). Accordingly, immediate remedial action can be taken, and operators do not need to wait for pre-planned plant shutdown periods to wait before an indication can be obtained from manually added tracers as to how effectively or poorly the XRT sorting machine functions. As shown in Figure 6, the control and tracking subsystem (30) may be programmed to function the dispenser apparatus, motors, and relays.

It is also envisaged that a dedicated software application, as is known by those skilled in the art, may be written in C++ or the like to visualize the movement of simulants through a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process thereby alleviating plant operator control and placing more control back into the hand of plant management. Plant management is envisaged to be able to log into, at any given time, and read recorded data, statistics and live visualization of tracers or simulants flowing through the XRT sorting machine and the recovery process.

Referring to Figure 6, the control and tracking subsystem or control unit (30) is better explained by way of the following more detailed description.

Main Control Unit

The control unit (52) contains all the electronic components and electrical circuitry to control the system (10).

Power Supply and Electrical Characteristics

The system operates from 220VAC and consumes a maximum of 350W power under typical operational conditions. There is a 220VAC circuit breaker to isolate the input power from the rest of the system and to protect from power surges or a short circuit. The RFID reader (55), HMI(54) and motor control (57) operate from 24VDC. Therefore, an AC-DC converter is fitted to the control unit to supply 24VDC to these items. The 24VDC circuit is protected with a DC circuit breaker. The single board computer (51) and ETHERNET (53) switch within the control box operate from 5VDC. Therefore, an AC-DC converter is fitted to the control box to supply 5VDC to these items. The 5VDC circuit is protected with a DC circuit breaker.

RFID Reader (55)

The RFID reader (55) is a 4-channel reader and operates from 24VDC. The reader is connected to the single board computer (51) through an ETHERNET (53) interface. Each channel of the RFID reader (55) is connected to one of the dedicated antennas (56) to the detection system.

ETHERNET Switch (53)

A 5-port ETHERNET Switch is installed inside the control unit (52). The ETHERNET switch (53) connects the single board computer (51) and the RFID reader’s (55) ETHERNET ports with each other and provides an external ETHERNET port in order to connect a diagnostic computer (58) or provide the system (10) with an internet connection if this is available on the installation site.

Modem

A 3G Modem, fitted with a SIM card is installed to provide an Internet connection to the system when internet is not available on site through WIFI or a dedicated ETHERNET cable.

Single Board Computer (51)

The single board computer is the processing unit of the system that executes the software and controls amongst others the interfaces to the RFID reader (55), the dispenser (50) and the cloud based relational database.

Motor Controllers

The controllers (57) that controls the movement of the motors are situated in the control unit (52). The motor controllers (57) receive commands from the single board computer (51) and translates these commands into signals that the motors interpret to move at a certain speed, in a certain direction until it reaches the desired output.

Hopper/Loading Tray

The hoppers to the feeders (50) are configured for specific sizes variations. The hoppers can each hold approximately 1000 of the tracers (20), depending on size variation.

Feeder

The feeders, also referred to as dispensers (50), are configured for specific sizes variations. The feeders are designed to feed tracers (20) in a single file. The feeders (50) are switched on and off through the user interface (54). The speed of the controllers can be varied with a manually controlled speed controller (57) located on the control unit (52) of the system (10). As a whole, the dispenser unit consists of two vibrating feeders (50) each equipped with a hopper that feeds tracers (20) in a controlled fashion onto a feeder plate towards a travellator. The system makes provision to add additional feeders and hoppers. The travellator can collect tracers (20) into a bucket and dispense these tracers (20) at predefined positions along the width of the XRT sorting machine.

While the illustrated XRT sorting equipment auditing system (10), include RFID tags or chips, it should be understood that other technologies may be employed in conjunction or as an alternative to RFID tags such as, without limitation, bar code, optical, optical recognition, microelectromechanical systems, active transponder, and radio frequency. As an example, optical scanning may be employed to detect and account for smaller sized simulants as it is envisaged that a variety of simulant sizes may be manufactured.

Of course, the function of detecting different types of technologies may be integrated into a single monitor device, different from the monitor device (12), but still falling within the ambit and scope of the present invention.

Thus, in such a case the monitor device may be adapted to detect, count and account for simulants such as, without limitation, RFID tagged simulants, metal containing simulants, optically functionalized, and bar-coded simulants. An investigation module of the control and tracking subsystem allow an RFID simulant to be read into a database for recording which database is interrogatable such that divergences from expected and set values can be detected and remedial action can be taken within seconds. The control and tracking subsystem receive signals from the monitor device to track a geographical location of the simulant, in real time, which can be shown on a suitable display.

While identification tags such as the RFID tags or labels may be able to survive the difficult conditions associated with mining recovery processes, there is yet another challenge directed to attaching an identification element to a simulant (20). In view of this, the RFID tags are frequently attached to the core (24) by employing mechanical techniques. A more common form of attachment of an RFID tag to a simulant is by bonding techniques including encapsulation or adhesion.

A wide range of materials are available, and some provide high strength bonds which are tough, water resistant, low in outgassing, and dimensionally stable over a temperature range of up to 300 degrees Celsius. Some epoxies can withstand repeated radiation, and the hammering associated with movement in a plant environment.

The methods and systems described herein is envisaged to be deployed in part or in whole through network infrastructures. The network infrastructure may include elements such as computing devices, servers, routers, hubs, firewalls, clients, personal computers, communication devices, routing devices and other active and passive devices, modules and/or components as known in the art. The computing and/or non-computing device(s) associated with the network infrastructure may include, apart from other components, a storage medium such as flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM, ROM, and the like. The processes, methods, program codes, instructions described herein and elsewhere may be executed by one or more of the network infrastructural elements. The methods and systems described herein may be adapted for use with any kind of private, community, or hybrid cloud computing network or cloud computing environment, including those which involve features of software as a service (“SaaS”), platform as a service (“PaaS”), and/or infrastructure as a service (“laaS”).

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein and elsewhere may be implemented on a cellular network having multiple cells. The cellular network may either be frequency division multiple access (“FDMA”) network or code division multiple access (“CDMA”) network. The cellular network may include mobile devices, cell sites, base stations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like. The cell network may be a GSM, GPRS, 3G, EVDO, mesh, or other networks types.

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein and elsewhere may be implemented on or through mobile devices. The mobile devices may include navigation devices, cell phones, mobile phones, mobile personal digital assistants, laptops, palmtops, netbooks, pagers, electronic books readers, music players and the like. These devices may include, apart from other components, a storage medium such as a flash memory, buffer, RAM, ROM and one or more computing devices. The computing devices associated with mobile devices may be enabled to execute program codes, methods, and instructions stored thereon. Alternatively, the mobile devices may be configured to execute instructions in collaboration with other devices. The mobile devices may communicate with base stations interfaced with servers and configured to execute program codes. The mobile devices may communicate on a peer-to-peer network, mesh network, or other communications network. The program code may be stored on the storage medium associated with the server and executed by a computing device embedded within the server. The base station may include a computing device and a storage medium. The storage device may store program codes and instructions executed by the computing devices associated with the base station.

The computer software, program codes, and/or instructions may be stored and/or accessed on machine readable transitory and/or non-transitory media that may include: computer components, devices, and recording media that retain digital data used for computing for some interval of time; semiconductor storage known as random access memory (“RAM”); mass storage typically for more permanent storage, such as optical discs, forms of magnetic storage like hard disks, tapes, drums, cards and other types; processor registers, cache memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory; optical storage such as CD, DVD; removable media such as flash memory (e.g. USB sticks or keys), floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards, standalone RAM disks, zip drives, removable mass storage, off-line, and the like; other computer memory such as dynamic memory, static memory, read/write storage, mutable storage, read only, random access, sequential access, location addressable, file addressable, content addressable, network attached storage, storage area network, bar codes, magnetic ink, and the like.

The methods and systems described herein may transform physical and/or intangible items from one state to another. The methods and systems described herein may also transform data representing physical and/or intangible items from one state to another.

The elements described and depicted herein imply logical boundaries between the elements. However, according to software or hardware engineering practices, the depicted elements and the functions thereof may be implemented on machines through computer executable transitory and/or non-transitory media having a processor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon as a monolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or as modules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, or any combination of these, and all such implementations may be within the scope of the present disclosure. Examples of such machines may include, but may not be limited to, personal digital assistants, laptops, personal computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices, medical equipment, wired or wireless communication devices, transducers, chips, calculators, satellites, tablet PCs, electronic devices, devices having artificial intelligence, computing devices, networking equipment, servers, routers, and the like. Furthermore, the elements depicted in the drawings may be implemented on a machine capable of executing program instructions. Thus, it will be appreciated that the various steps identified and described above may be varied and that the order of steps may be adapted to particular applications of the techniques disclosed herein. All such variations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. As such, the depiction and/or description of an order for various steps should not be understood to require a particular order of execution for those steps, unless required by a particular application, or explicitly stated or otherwise clear from the context.

The methods and/or processes described above, and steps associated therewith, may be realized in hardware, software or any combination of hardware and software suitable for a particular application. The hardware may include a general- purpose computer and/or dedicated computing device or specific computing device or particular aspect or component of a specific computing device. The processes may be realized in one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or other programmable devices, along with internal and/or external memory. The processes may also, or instead, be embodied in an application specific integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, programmable array logic, or any other device or combination of devices that may be configured to process electronic signals. It will further be appreciated that one or more of the processes may be realized as a computer executable code capable of being executed on a machine-readable medium. The computer executable code may be created using a structured programming language such as C, an object oriented programming language such as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language (including assembly languages, hardware description languages, and database programming languages and technologies) that may be stored, compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well as heterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, or combinations of different hardware and software, or any other machine capable of executing program instructions.

Thus, in one aspect, methods described above and combinations thereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In another aspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the steps thereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, or all of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalone device or other hardware. In another aspect, the means for performing the steps associated with the processes described above may include any of the hardware and/or software described above. All such permutations and combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

While the disclosure has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present disclosure is not to be limited by the foregoing examples but is to be understood in the broadest sense allowable by law.

The use of the terms “a,” “an.” And “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosure (especially in the context of the following claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “consisting” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e. , meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitations of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein may be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the disclosure and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the disclosure unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the disclosure.

The invention for which patent protection is sought is defined in the set of claims that follows herein.

Claims (28)

1. An XRT sorting equipment auditing system comprising: one or more X-ray readable valuable mineral or gemstone simulants; a control and simulant tracking subsystem; one or more monitor devices, each defining a monitored zone located at a critical area of a valuable mineral or gemstone processing plant; wherein each valuable mineral or gemstone simulant comprises communication means integrally formed, or of unitary construction, therewith for wirelessly communicating with the control and simulant tracking subsystem via said one or more monitor devices; and wherein said control and simulant tracking subsystem controls dispensing, and real-time location, of said one or more valuable mineral or gemstone simulants as it pass through said one or more monitored zones.

2. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1, comprising manual simulant dispensing for operational monitoring of valuable mineral or gemstone simulants which are linked to the control and simulant tracking subsystem, upon receipt of an appropriate signal from the one or more valuable mineral or gemstone simulants.

3. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , comprising a simulant dispensing apparatus linked to the control and simulant tracking subsystem and operable, upon receipt of an appropriate signal from the control and simulant tracking subsystem, to automate consecutive dispensing, or pause dispensing, of valuable mineral or gemstone simulants into the valuable mineral or gemstone recovery plant.

4. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 3, comprising a simulant dispensing apparatus linked to the control and simulant tracking subsystem and operable, upon receipt of a signal from the control and simulant tracking subsystem indicating via the one or more monitoring devices that a valuable mineral or gemstone simulant is located at a location on a valuable mineral or gemstone processing plant where plant management would not expect said simulant to be should the XRT sorting machine function optimally, to pause dispensing.

5. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 4, wherein each monitored zone is selected from the group of critical areas of a valuable mineral or gemstone processing plant comprising: DMS cyclone feed, concentrate transfer apparatus, conveyor system, pneumatic transfer components into bins, simulant dispensing apparatus, concentrate collection chambers, tailings collection chambers.

6. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 5, wherein the monitored zone is an electromagnetically monitored zone utilizing a RFID tag able to communicate with said one or more monitor devices.

7. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 5, wherein a monitor device within the or each monitored zone may be adapted to monitor valuable mineral or gemstone simulant presence utilizing any one or more of the following technologies: metal detection, bar code detection, optical detection, optical recognition, microelectromechanical detection, and radio frequency.

8. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , comprising a first monitored zone located within a distance of between about one to six meters from a tailings collection chamber, a second monitored zone located within a distance of between about one to six meters from a concentrate collection chamber, and a third monitored zone located within a distance of between about one to six meters from the simulant dispensing apparatus.

9. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , wherein each monitored zone comprises a receiver for receiving geographical information about a valuable mineral or gemstone simulant within the vicinity of said receiver.

10. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , wherein each monitored zone comprises a transceiver for both receiving geographical information about a valuable mineral or gemstone simulant located within the vicinity of the receiver and for transmitting said geographical information to the control and simulant tracking subsystem.

11. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , wherein each valuable mineral or gemstone simulant is weighted to imitate the relative density of the valuable mineral or gemstone to be recovered.

12. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 11 , wherein each valuable mineral or gemstone simulant comprises a relative density of between about 3.3 to 3.5.

13. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 12, wherein the relative density of each valuable mineral or gemstone simulant is obtained by incorporating lead or tungsten into said simulant.

14. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , wherein the communication means, associated with the valuable mineral or gemstone simulant, comprises a transponder.

15. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , wherein each valuable mineral or gemstone simulant comprises an unbranched linear polymer.

16. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , wherein each valuable mineral or gemstone simulant comprises a ceramic material.

17. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1 , wherein a coiled antenna is disposed within the one or more valuable mineral or gemstone simulants.

18. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 17, wherein the coiled antenna is operable to be in contact with a RFID tag and disposed within an unbranched linear polymer or ceramic body of the one or more valuable mineral or gemstone simulants.

19. The XRT sorting equipment auditing system of claim 1, wherein the one or more valuable mineral or gemstone simulants is over-moulded with an outer layer of polyoxymethylene protecting an inner coiled antenna and RFID tag.

20. A method of auditing an XRT sorting machine used in a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process plant, the method comprising: providing an XRT sorting equipment auditing system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19; dispensing valuable mineral or gemstone simulants from a simulant dispensing apparatus so as to cause flow thereof through the plant; monitoring location data about said simulants in real time via one or more monitor devices discretely placed in monitored zones located before, after, on, or around said XRT sorting machine and employing a control and simulant tracking subsystem to communicate with said monitor devices and present real time information about the functioning of the XRT sorting machine and the processing plant to authorised operators or management such that timely control actions or decisions can be taken.

21. The method of claim 20, including the step of sequential opening or closing or starting or shutting down instructions by the control and simulant tracking subsystem to XRT equipment linked to said subsystem based on real time valuable mineral or gemstone simulant location data obtained from the one or more monitor devices.

22. A method of improving the efficiency of a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process on a plant in which valuable minerals or gemstones are recovered from their ores, the method comprising: providing an XRT sorting equipment auditing system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19; dispensing valuable mineral or gemstone simulants from a simulant dispensing apparatus so as to cause flow thereof through the plant interspersed with ore or gemstones; monitoring geographical data about said simulants in real time via discretely placed monitor devices located throughout the plant; and employing a control and simulant tracking subsystem to communicate with monitor devices and present real time information about the functioning of the process plant to authorised operators or management such that timely control actions or decisions can be taken.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the control and simulant tracking subsystem communicates sequential opening or closing or starting or shutting down instructions to plant processing equipment based on signals received about location of said monitored simulants.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein plant processing equipment is selected from valves, pumps, conveyors, and dispensers linked to said subsystem based on real time simulant location data obtained from the monitor devices.

25. A valuable mineral or gemstone simulant or tracer for use in a valuable mineral or gemstone recovery process, said simulant or tracer having communication means for communication in real time with at least one monitor device for monitoring and tracking location of said simulant or tracer throughout said process.

26. The valuable mineral or gemstone simulant or tracer of claim 25 comprising a weighted body imitating the relative density of the gemstone or valuable mineral to be recovered.

27. The valuable mineral or gemstone simulant or tracer of claim 26 comprising a carbonaceous matrix having an RFID tag connected to an antenna.

28. The valuable mineral or gemstone simulant or tracer of claim 27, wherein the carbonaceous matrix comprises an unbranched linear plastics polymer characterized in having a high degree of stiffness, dimensional stability and corrosion resistance.