SE1950907A1

SE1950907A1 - Beneficiation arrangement

Info

Publication number: SE1950907A1
Application number: SE1950907A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Lars Grönvall
Original assignee: Metso Sweden Ab
Priority date: 2019-07-29
Filing date: 2019-07-29
Publication date: 2021-01-30
Also published as: CN116945611A; WO2021018781A1; CA3148772A1; MX2022001289A; SE544132C2; BR112022001586A2; CL2022000228A1; CN213255039U; AU2020323233A1; PE20220541A1; CN112295714A; EP4003614A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a beneficiation arrangement for use with geological material, comprising an entrance area for the geological material, a first sensor station comprising at least one sensor for determining a property of the geological material, a first sorting station for sorting the geological material and an exit area where the geological material leaves the beneficiation arrangement. The beneficiation system further comprises a conveying system for transportation of the geological material extending between the entrance area and the exit area, wherein the first sensor station is arranged along the conveying system downstream of the entrance area and wherein the first sorting station is arranged along the conveying system downstream of the first sensor station and further wherein the operation of the first sorting station is based on information retrieved by the first sensor station. A corresponding method and use is also disclosed.

Description

BENEFICIATION ARRANGEMENT FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a beneficiation arrangement, forexample within the mining industry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When extracting minerals or other valuable materials from the earth,resource consumption, such as power and water, is coming more and moreinto focus. As the grade of the available global deposits is ever decreasingand most high-grade deposits are depleting quickly, more and more energyhas to be invested in order to obtain a given amount of e.g. metal ore sinceprocessing and rejecting worthless material causes poor productivity. Thereare researches available indicating that well above 90 °/> of the energyconsumed in the comminution process ends in heat and does not contributeto the liberation/benefication process which means that if it is possible to sortout worthless material as early as possible, substantial energy savings arepossible. A solution is to apply coarse rejection technologies in order to beable to remove barren material as early in the process as possible. This will minimize the tonnage that has to be transported, comminuted and processed.

Different approaches to this dilemma have been presented throughout theyears. For example, sensor based bulk ore sorting used to separate largevolumes of gangue from more valuable ore volumes. Low-grade ore bodiesgenerally contain a large proportion of liberated barren gangue, or, in otherwords, material of no worth which can be rejected from coarse feed which willincrease the grade of the ore proceeding to the next stage of processing andavoids feeding the plant with material that only incur processing costs suchthat less tons of ore must be treated per ton of product, thus reducing theenergy and water consumption per ton of product. Since gangue tends to be high in silicates and typically harder than the minerals to be Iiberated, removalof this hard and barren material prior to comminution stages also has thepotential to significantly reduce energy consumption and processing costs,and may also reduce ore transport requirements. This can be done byseparating large volumes of barren gangue from a fully loaded conveyor beltbased on the grade as determined by sensor measurement. A variety ofsensors are available, and commonly include photometric, electromagnetic,radiometric and x-ray. The sensors are normally applied to loaded truckboxes or a fully loaded conveyor belts such that bulk quantities of ore can beevaluated.

Another approach is to control and perform blasting of the geologicalbody to be mined such that a beneficiation is achieved. US-2014/0144342describes a method for blasting which achieves that those parts of thegeological body to be mined having a higher grade have the finest fractionpost-blasting whereas less valuable parts, such as gangue, have largerfractions. The more valuable, finer fractions can then be separated from theless valuable fractions by means of a screening device or other separation equipment.

Yet another known method is sensor based stream sorting. Theconcept as such is known from e.g. waste recycling and food processing andthose systems have been adapted and modified to better suit the specificneeds of the mining industry. However, throughput for these systems haveproven to be much too small to be of real relevance, often ~1OO tons per hourwhereas mining applications generally requires several or even manythousands of tons per hour.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the invention is to overcome, or at least lessen the abovementioned problems, especially those related to sensor based stream sorting.

A particular object is to provide an arrangement for beneficiation foruse with geological material. To better address this concern, in a first aspectof the invention there is provided a beneficiation arrangement for use withgeological material comprising an entrance area for the geological materialand a first sensor station comprising at least one sensor for determining aproperty of the geological material. lt further comprises a first sorting stationfor sorting the geological material as well as an exit area where the geologicalmaterial leaves the beneficiation arrangement. The beneficiation systemfurther comprises a conveying system for transportation of the geologicalmaterial. The conveying system extends between the entrance area and theexit area and the first sensor station is arranged along this conveying system,downstream of the entrance area. Further, the first sorting station is alsoarranged along the conveying system downstream of the first sensor stationand the operation of the first sorting station is based on information retrievedby the first sensor station. This arrangement has the advantage that thesensor station can be used to obtain relevant parameters about the geologicalmaterial, such as metal ore, and the data obtained at the sensor station isthen used to control the downstream sorting station where the geologicalmaterial can for example be sorted into one stream of more valuable material,which can be fon/varded to further treatment and one stream of less valuablematerial which can be transported for disposal. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the entrance area comprises a separation arrangement for dividing thegeological material in a plurality of material flows before reaching theconveying system. This has the advantage that each part-flow can be treatedoptimally in the beneficiation arrangement. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the conveying system comprises separate tracks for each of the material flows. By providing separate tracks it is possible to convey and sort the material in parallel flows. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, atrack bypasses the first sensor station and the first sorting station.Sometimes, if other, previous pre-concentration means have been sufficientlysuccessful, it is possible to guide a part of the geological material past thesensor station and sorting station and directly to subsequent treatmentfacilities, such as a downstream comminution line. The purpose ofbeneficiation is to only treat those parts of the flow of geological material thatrequires treatment. Usually, what is meant by treatment in this field iscomminution but if a parts of the material has already been determined tohave a sufficient grade, there is no point in having it pass the sensors andsorting station. This would only consume beneficiation capacity that could bebetter used for other parts of the flow, or you could even argue that it wouldcause increased energy needed with no benefit. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the plurality of material flows are divided by means of a screeningarrangement dividing the flow of materials based on particle size. This has anumber of advantages. Often, particle size post blasting can be used toestimate grade. As discussed in US-2014/0144342, the teachings andcontent of which is incorporated by reference herein, more valuable parts ofthe ore body will have finer fraction whereas less valuable, barren material,gangue, will break into coarser fractions. One possibility is for example tohave the finest particles, or particles in a finer range, bypass the sensorstation and sorting station and continue directly to further comminution. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the first sensor station comprises a plurality of sensors. By using multiplesensors, measurement accuracy can be improved. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the plurality of sensors comprises different sensor types. By measuringdifferent properties of the geological material, measurement accuracy can befurther improved and the sorting station can be fed with information of higherquality. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the plurality of sensors comprises sensor types selected from a groupcomprising but not limited to: laser sensor; camera; color sensor; photometricsensor; magnetic resonance sensor; radiometric sensor; near-infrared sensor;Lidar; Radar; x-ray; gamma ray spectrometers; weight sensor. These are allapplicable and the type of sensors could be selected depending on whichgeological material is to be evaluated. Different sensors have differentbenefits in the evaluation process, some measure based on outsideparameters, like laser scanner and cameras, some screen the internalparameters, like x-ray sensors. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, atleast a first sensor of a first type and a second sensor of a second type arearranged in series within the first sensor station. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, aplurality of sensors is arranged in series within the first sensor station, inparticular 2-10 sensors, more particularly 2-7 sensors, even more particularly3-6 sensors. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, afirst sensor is arranged upstream of a second sensor and wherein the secondsensor is activated depending on information retrieved by the first sensor.This has several advantages. The application of sensors will always implycertain power requirements. By arranging the sensors in way that the outcome of a first, upstream sensor is used to determine if a second,downstream sensor should be applied at all and if so, to what extent it mustbe used. lf the first sensor can determine with a probability that exceeds agiven threshold value that a particle of geological material has a certainproperty, for example that it is of no value, then any downstream sensorsneed not to be applied and thereby energy requirements is reduced andavailable computational capacity can be used for better purposes. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the sensors are serially arranged in an upstream-downstream arrangementand wherein a downstream sensor is activated depending on informationretrieved by one or more of upstream sensor/s. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the sensors comprise sensors of different types. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, atleast two of the sensors are arranged in parallel with each other. ln somesituations, it can be advantageous to have two or more sensors perform theirmeasurements simultaneously, for example to enhance measurement accuracy. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the at least two sensors arranged in parallel with each other are arranged inseries with at least one further sensor. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the output data of the sensors is arranged to be combined in a fusionprocess. Each of the sensors used has certain advantages anddisadvantages. The aim of sensor fusion is to use the advantages of theindividual sensor to precisely understand the environment. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the fusion process is done as direct fusion. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the direct fusion is done by using sensor data from heterogeneous and/orhomogeneous sensors and/or soft sensors and/or history values of sensordata. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the fusion process is done as indirect fusion. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the indirect fusion is done using previous knowledge about the environmentand/or human input. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the fusion process is done as a combination of direct fusion and indirectfusion. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the fusion process is done in a centralized manner. ln this embodiment, thesensors fon/vard their output data to a central computational unit which takescare of the correlating and fusing of the data as well as any decision makingbased on the outcome. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, the fusion process is done in a decentralized manner. ln this embodiment, thesensors do not simply forward their output data to a central computationalunit. lnstead, each or at least some of the units handle correlation and fusingthemselves and has a certain amount of autonomy when it comes to how theoutcome is used and what decisions to make based thereon. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,some of the sensors are arranged in a competitive configuration. This can forexample be used to detect sensors not working correctly. For example, asensor station may comprise more than one sensor capable of determiningthe size of a particle of geological material, e.g. a laser scanner and acamera. lt is then possible to have these two sensors work in a competitiveconfiguration to see if they deliver comparable results. lf not, error correctioncould be considered. lt is thus not necessary or even required that thesensors work in a competitive configuration at all time. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, atleast some of the sensors are arranged in a complementary configuration. lna complementary configuration, a plurality of sensors supply differentinformation about the same geological material. During continuous operation,this is often more energy efficient than the competitive configuration. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,sensors are arranged in a manner such that less energy requiring sensors arearranged upstream of more energy requiring sensors. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, amore energy requiring sensors is activated in dependence of informationretrieved by a less energy requiring sensor. This arrangement makesconsiderable energy-saving possible. Some sensor types are extremelyenergy intensive, for example x-ray, and if those sensors should be applied tothe entire flow of material, which can exceed 3500 tons per hour, sometimesmore than 6000 tons per hour and in certain applications even more than15000 tons per hour, enormous amounts of energy would be required. Thus,even if x-ray is a good way of improving measurement accuracy, the energyconsumption makes it impossible to apply continuously. The present inventioninstead makes it possible to apply sensors with high energy consumptions only in cases where previous, upstream and less energy intense sensorshave not been able to establish the Characteristics of a geological particle witha sufficiently high probability. Only when the data of previous sensors is notenough to determine if a particle is valuable or not, more energy intensesensors, such as x-ray, should be applied. This brings about considerableenergy savings while maintaining excellent measurement accuracy. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the first sorting station comprises at least one robot arranged to sortgeological material being transported by the conveying system. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the first sorting station comprises a group of robots. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the robots of the first sorting station comprise deflectors. Sometimes,deflectors are better suited to divert particles into the correct stream. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the group of robots are arranged in an upstream-downstream arrangementalong the track of the conveying system. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,separate tracks of the conveying system comprise separate first sortingstations. Since different tracks will convey geological material having differentproperties, e.g. particles of different size, it is advantageous to have separaterobot sorting stations for each track. Smaller particles will probably requireless powerful robots but instead speed is more relevant to be able to handlemore particles per hour. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the at least one robot arranged to sort geological material comprises grippingmeans for picking and placing geological material. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the at least one robot arranged to sort geological material comprises vacuumsuction means for picking and placing geological material. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the at least one robot arranged to sort geological material comprises pushingmeans for moving geological material during sorting thereof. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the entrance area comprises openings having pre-defined width and/orheight. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the width and/or height of the openings are adapted to a particle size of therespective tracks such the particles can only pass through the openings oneat the time. The information of the sensors will be much more reliable of theycan perform their measurements on individual particles. The solution withopenings having predetermined opening size will prevent particles ofgeological material from entering the conveying system in groups. lnstead,the particles will enter one by one such that the system can differentiatebetween the individual particles. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the conveying system comprises one or more conveyor belts per track.Conveyor belts are convenient way of transporting geological material, suchas ore. 11 ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, atleast one of the tracks comprises more than one conveyor belt and whereinthe conveyor belts are arranged to be operated at different speeds. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, aconveyor belt of the tracks is operated at a speed exceeding the feed rate ofgeological material. This will ensure that the adjacent particles will becomedistanced from each other such that the system will be able to evaluate eachparticle individually. lf the sensors are allowed to measure one particle atthem time, measurement accuracy will be greatly improved. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, the conveying system comprises one or more conveyor belts per track. Usingtwo or more conveyor belts per track makes it possible to provide continuoussorting of material. A first conveyor belt can for example transport theparticles that have been considered valuable towards further comminution. Asecond conveyor belt can transport the particles that have been considered tohave little or no value towards gangue dumps or similar. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, afurther sensor station and/or sorting station is arranged between the firstsorting station and the exit area. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, afurther sensor station and a further sorting station are arranged between thefirst sorting station and the exit area. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the beneficiation arrangement is arranged to use information retrieved by atleast the further sensor station for system optimization. The further sensorstation can be used as quality assurance and can operate continuously as a 12 last stage sensor and sorting station or can be applied at regular intervals asa control stage to determine if the system with the first sensor station and firstsorting station is operating as intended. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement,the information retrieved by at least the further sensor station is relayed backinto the system for quality check purposes. ln accordance with an embodiment of the beneficiation arrangement, acontrol unit is provided. The control unit is arranged to obtain information fromall other parts of the beneficiation arrangement and to process the informationand send out instructions to the parts of the beneficiation arrangement basedon that information.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided amethod for beneficiation of geological material, comprising the followingsteps: - feeding the geological material through an entrance area; - transporting the geological material from the entrance area to afirst sensor station comprising at least one sensor by means of a conveyingsystem; - determining a property of the geological material by means ofthe at least one sensor; - transporting the geological material from the first sensor stationto a first sorting station by means of the conveying system; - sorting the geological material; and - transporting the geological material from the first sorting stationto an exit area where the geological material leaves the beneficiationarrangement, wherein the operation of the first sorting station is based on informationretrieved by said first sensor station. 13 ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of separating the geological material in a plurality ofmaterial flows at or near the entrance area before reaching the conveyingsystem. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of having at least one of the material flows bypassing thefirst sensor station and the first sorting station. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of using a screening arrangement for dividing the flows of materials based on particle size. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method further comprises the step of applying a plurality of sensors in the first sensor station. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of applying different sensor types. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of selecting type of sensors from a group comprising:laser sensor; camera; color sensor; photometric sensor; magnetic resonancesensor; radiometric sensor; near-infrared sensor; Lidar; Radar; x-ray; weightsensor ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging at least a first sensor of a first type and asecond sensor of a second type in series within the first sensor station. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging a plurality of sensors in series within the first 14 sensor station, in particular 2-10 Sensors, more particularly 2-7 sensors, evenmore particularly 3-6 sensors. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging a first sensor upstream of a second sensorand such that the second sensor is activated depending on informationretrieved by the first sensor. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging the sensors serially in an upstream-downstream arrangement and such that a downstream sensor is activateddepending on information retrieved by one or more of upstream sensor/s. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of applying sensors of different types. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging at least two of the sensors in parallel witheach other. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging the at least two sensors arranged in parallelwith each other in series with at least one further sensor. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of combining the output data of the sensors in a fusionprocess. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of performing the fusion process in a centralized manner. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of performing the fusion process in a centralized manner. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging at least some of the sensors in a competitiveconfiguration. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging at least some of the sensors in a complementary configuration. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging sensors in a manner such that less energy requiring sensors are arranged upstream of more energy requiring sensors. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging sensors such that a more energy requiringsensors is activated in dependence of information retrieved by a less energy requiring sensor. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging at least one robot arranged to sort geological material being transported by the conveying system at the first sorting station. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging a group of robots at the first sorting station. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging the group of robots in an upstream-downstream arrangement along the track of the conveying system. 16 ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the method furthercomprises the step of arranging separate first sorting stations at the separatetracks of the conveying system. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the at least onerobot arranged to sort geological material comprises gripping means forpicking and placing geological material. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the at least onerobot arranged to sort geological material comprises vacuum suction means for picking and placing geological material. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the at least onerobot arranged to sort geological material comprises pushing means formoving geological material during sorting thereof. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the conveyingsystem comprises separate tracks for each of the material flows ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the entrance areacomprises openings having pre-defined width and/or height. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the width and/orheight of the openings are adapted to a particle size of the respective trackssuch the particles can only pass through the openings one at the time. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the conveyingsystem comprises one or more conveyor belts per track. 17 ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, at least one of thetracks comprises more than one conveyor belt and wherein the conveyorbelts are arranged to be operated at different speeds. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, a conveyor belt ofthe tracks is operated at a speed exceeding the feed rate of geologicalmaterial ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, a further sensorstation and/or sorting station is arranged between the first sorting station andthe exit area. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, a further sensorstation and a further sorting station are arranged between the first sortingstation and the exit area. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the beneficiationarrangement is arranged to use information retrieved by at least the furthersensor station for system optimization. ln accordance with an embodiment of the method, the informationretrieved by at least the further sensor station is relayed back into the systemfor quality check purposes Similarly, and correspondingly to the arrangement disclosed above, theembodiment of this method in accordance with this second aspect will providesubstantial advantages over prior art solutions.

Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention willappear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached claims, as 18 well as from the drawings. lt is noted that the invention relates to all possiblecombinations of features.

Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted accordingto their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly definedotherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the [element, device, component,means, step, etc.]" are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least oneinstance of said element, device, component, means, step, etc., unlessexplicitly stated otherwise.

As used herein, the term "comprising" and variations of that term arenot intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in more detail and with reference to theappended drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic structure of the beneficiation arrangement inaccordance with a first embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EI\/IBODI|\/IENTSThe present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplifying embodimentsof the invention are shown. The present invention may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited tothe embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided forthoroughness and completeness, and to fully convey the scope of theinvention to the skilled addressee. Like reference characters refer to likeelements throughout.

Referring now to figure 1, it can be seen that the beneficiationarrangement 100 may start with a feeding arrangement, such as a feedingconveyor 10 which feeds geological material, such as ore or other geologicalmaterial which may benefit from the invention. The feeding conveyor 10 may 19 obtain the material from an intermediate storage of material, directly fromdump trucks or in any other suitable manner. The material is typically run ofmine ore coming directly from blasting and no previous crushing or similarhas yet been performed. However, to avoid damage to the equipment, sometype of size check is required. This could be done by using a so-called grizzlyfeeder. The feeding conveyor 10 may then, if necessary, transport thematerial to a primary crusher 20, such as a jaw crusher or gyratory crusherwhich reduces the particle size prior to further processing. Typically, a primarycrusher reduces particle size to <250mm, often to a size between 100-200mm. After the primary crusher 20, the material arrives at a screeningarrangement 30 which splits the flow of material into for example threedifferent material flows F1, F2 and F3. The difference between these materialflows being the size of the particles. ln one embodiment, F1 may compriseparticles having a size between 150-250mm; F2 may comprise particleshaving a size between 100-150mm and; F3 may comprise particles having asize between 75-100mm. However, it should be noted that these particlesizes are only exemplary and large variations may occur depending on thegeological material to be treated, blasting methods and equipment used.Further, the invention is by no means limited to three flows of material. lnsome situations, a single flow will suffice whereas in other cases more thanthree will be necessary. Further, in accordance with a further embodiment ofthe invention, an additional flow of material FG is provided. As discussedearlier, it is possible to use other pre-concentrations technologies incombination with the beneficiation arrangement of the invention. Oneexample is to use an optimized blasting method, as described in e.g.US2014/0144342, which will cause higher grade parts of the ore body tobreak into relatively fine fractions whereas parts of the ore body having lowergrade will typically break into coarser fractions. This can be utilized such thatthe finest fractions will be extracted in the screening process at 30 andimmediately transported towards further comminution. lf it is confirmed thatthe pre-concentration, for example by applying suitable blasting methods, is successful, there is no need for this material to be further beneficiated, it canbe fed directly into a comminution step. This saves energy consumptionand/or makes it possible to increase throughput per hour. The flows ofmaterial F1, F2, F3 enters an entrance area 40. This entrance area 40comprises three entrances 41, 42, 43, one for each material flow F1, F2, F3,each entrance being fed by a corresponding output from the screeningarrangement 30. Each of these entrances 41, 42, 43 comprises an openinghaving a pre-defined width and/or height. The width and/or height of theseopenings are adapted to the particle size of the respective material flow F1,F2, F3 such that the particles can only pass through the openings one at thetime. This is advantageous in that it ensures that particles don"t leave theentrances 41, 42, 43 lying on top of each other or in heaps. lnstead they willleave the entrance area 40 and enter a respective first conveyor belt of theconveying system CS one by one. The openings of the entrances 41, 42, 43can be provided in the form of comb-shaped elements, i.e. pipes or similarextending in a generally vertical plane keeping the particles laterally spacedapart. After leaving the entrance area 40, the particles will be transported bythe conveying system CS comprising one track per flow of material F1, F2,F3. The conveying system CS typically comprises several conveyor belts, atleast one conveyor belt per track. The conveyor belts are preferably arrangedto operate at a speed which is higher than the feeding rate through therespective entrances 41, 42, 43. This means that the particles will becomelaterally separated by the openings of the entrances 41, 42, 43 andlongitudinally separated by means of the higher speed of the conveyor belt.Together, these arrangements make sure that the particles are keptseparated. ln a next step, the particles enter the first sensor station 50, 51,52. Note that in this embodiment, there are three first sensor stations 50, 51,52. One for each flow of material F1, F2, F3, i.e. one for each particle sizerange. The first sensor stations 50, 51, 52 each comprises a number ofdifferent sensors arranged to determine the content of the particles, i.e. todetermine the amount of valuable material, such as iron, gold, copper, or 21 other material, present in each particle. The sensors are typically arranged inupstream-downstream arrangement and are arranged such that theapplication of a downstream sensor is made dependent on the outcome ofone or more upstream sensors. lt may be the case that some sensors arevery accurate when it comes to determining the content of a particle but willhave substantial energy requirements. One such sensor type is x-raysensors. X-ray can determine the content to a high degree and could, if usedto every particle, deliver very reliable output. But the drawback is that itrequires large amounts of electricity. Other sensors, such as laser scannersor cameras are less energy intensive but also less reliable in some situations.ln accordance with the present invention, sensors using less energy areapplied first and if they can deliver results, with a pre-defined level ofcertainty, the use of downstream, more energy intensive sensors need not beused. For example, if an upstream, sensor, such as a laser scanner, canestablish that a given particle is comprises valuable material in an amountabove a pre-defined limit and that this information is at a level of certaintyabove a given threshold, there is no need to apply downstream sensors, suchas x-ray sensors. Thereby, energy can be saved. However, if upstreamsensor/s are not capable to determine the amount of valuable material in aparticle, downstream sensors are applied one after the other until a decisioncan be made. lt is, however, also possible to apply the sensors in moreintricate manners. For example, if a first sensor determines that a particleseems to have a specific set of properties, it may, based on the outcome ofprevious measurements, be determined that this particle is best evaluated bya specific sensor or specific set of sensors of the sensor station. For example,a sensor arranged at a most upstream position, i.e. closest to the entrancearea 40, determines that a particle seems to have properties identical or atleast similar to previously sensed particles which properties in the end werebest determined by a specific sensor, such as an x-ray, or specific set ofsensors, the system can activate that or those sensors immediately and avoidusing sensors that previously have proven to be unsuccessful. lt should also 22 be noted in this respect, that the sensors applied in the sensor station neednot all be actual, physical sensors. ln addition, so-called soft sensors or virtualsensing means can be applied. These uses information available from othermeasurements and process parameters to calculate an estimate of thequantity of interest and may be used to provide feasible and economicalalternatives to costly or impractical physical measurement instruments. Thesensors can be arranged in a sensor fusion process. ln accordance with oneembodiment, direct fusion may be applied. Direct fusion is the fusion of datafrom a set of sensors, soft sensors, and history values of sensor data. lnaccordance with one embodiment, indirect fusion may be applied which alsouses information sources like a priori knowledge about the environment andalso human input.

After leaving the first sensor station 50, 51, 52, the first conveyor belt of theconveying system CS further transports the particles to first sorting stations60, 61, 62 comprising one or more sorting robots. lt is advantageous if theseconveyor belts have a certain minimum length. This will give the systemenough time to process the data obtained at the first sensor stations 50, 51 ,52 and decide on what action is required. Based on the data from thesensors, the system will send instructions to the first sorting stations 60, 61,62. At or near these first sorting stations 60, 61, 62, the conveying system CScomprises an additional conveyor belt running in parallel with the firstconveyor belt. The robots of the first sorting stations 60, 61, 62 will receiveinstructions to either leave a given particle on the first conveyor belt or tomove this particle to the additional conveyor belt. Each of the first andadditional conveyor belts are assigned to either particles deemed valuableenough for further comminution or to particles which are deemed lessvaluable and which will therefore be transported to a gangue dump or similar.The different first sorting stations 60, 61, 62 each comprises one or morerobots capable of sorting particle of the sizes of the respective material flowsF1, F2, F3. Thus, the robots of a first sorting station 60, 61, 62 may be 23 arranged to handle larger particles than the robots of another first sortingstation 60, 61, 62. Generally, but not necessarily, the first sorting stations 60,61, 62 handling particles of smaller sizes, must be able to handle largernumber of particles per time unit than the first sorting stations 60, 61, 62handling particles of larger sizes. The robots may work in accordance withprinciple of pick and place by lifting the particle using any of a grippingmeans; a vacuum means; a magnetic means or any other suitable means orthey may work as a deflector, guiding, or knocking the particles to a correctposition on the first or additional conveyor belt. By arranging a plurality ofrobots in an upstream-downstream arrangement along the conveying system,the system can be dimensioned to handle high volumes of material. Andsince the invention allows the use of conveyor belts having also substantiallengths, there will be space enough for high number of robots arranged inseries, one after the other. Obviously, robots can be arranged on both sidesof the conveyor belts as well.

After leaving the first sorting stations 60, 61, 62, the particles continue tomove along the first or the additional conveyor belt, towards a second sensingand sorting station 70, 71, 72. This second sensing and sorting station 70, 71,72 may comprise a sensor station having for example an x-ray sensor and asorting station having a sorting robot. This second sensing and sortingarrangement may be in constant use evaluating the particles deemed to be ofless value and if the system, based on the data from the second sensorstation, indicates that a particle is indeed of interest for further comminution,the second sorting station may move the particle back to the conveyor belt forvaluable particles. The data obtained in this second sensing and sortingstation 70, 71, 72 may be used for quality check of the first sensor stations50, 51, 52 and first sorting stations 60, 61, 62 and the results may be loopedback into the system such that function will improve over time. lt is alsopossible to use this second sensing and sorting station 70, 71, 72 in anintermittent manner, e.g. for regular quality checks or when processing 24 geological material where the system has little or no previous experience andwhere the knowledge needs to be gathered in order to run-in the systemproperly. lt can also be applied when new types of sensors are applied in thefirst sensor stations 50, 51, 52 which need to be fine-tuned. When leaving thesecond sensing and sorting station 70, 71, 72, the particles of less value aretransported to a gangue dump or similar and the valuable particles aretransported for further beneficiation and comminution.

A control unit 100 is arranged to receive information from all other partsof the beneficiation arrangement, such as sensor data, robot sorting statistics,conveyor belt speed, feeding rate from primary crusher, flow ratio betweenthe different material flow F1, F2, F3 etc. Based on this input, the control unitdecides on which actions are to be taken, i.e. instructions to the robots of thesorting stations; required conveyor belts speeds; which sensors are to beapplied and in which order, etc.

The skilled person realizes that a number of modifications of theembodiments described herein are possible without departing from the scopeof the invention, which is defined in the appended claims. For example, theskilled person realizes that the arrangement may not necessarily beconnected to a central control unit which processes all the information andtakes all the decisions in a centralized manner. lnstead, the parts of thearrangement, such as the sensors, may themselves be responsible forprocessing the information obtained thereby, or even by other parts of thearrangement, and take actions for correlating and fusing the data and mayhave a certain autonomy in decision making in a decentralized manner.Combinations of the centralized and decentralized systems may also beapplied.

Claims

1. 1. CLAIIVIS 1 _ 3. A beneficiation arrangement for use with geological material,comprising an entrance area for the geological material, a first sensorstation comprising at least one sensor for determining a property of thegeological material, a first sorting station for sorting the geologicalmaterial and an exit area where the geological material leaves thebeneficiation arrangement, wherein the beneficiation system furthercomprises a conveying system for transportation of the geologicalmaterial extending between the entrance area and the exit area,wherein said first sensor station is arranged along said conveyingsystem downstream of said entrance area and wherein said firstsorting station is arranged along said conveying system downstream ofsaid first sensor station and further wherein the operation of said firstsorting station is based on information retrieved by said first sensor station. A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 1, wherein theentrance area comprises a separation arrangement for dividing thegeological material in a plurality of material flows before reaching the conveying system. A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 2, wherein theconveying system comprises separate tracks for each of the material flows. 4. A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 3, wherein a track bypasses the first sensor station and the first sorting station. 26 _ A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 2, wherein the plurality of material flows are divided by means of a screeningarrangement dividing the flow of materials based on particle size. _ A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 2, wherein the plurality of material flows are divided based on the structure of thegeological material. _ A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first sensor station comprises a plurality of sensors. _ A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein the plurality of sensors comprises different sensor types. _ A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 8, wherein the plurality of sensors comprises sensor types selected from a group comprising: laser sensor; camera; color sensor; photometric sensor; magnetic resonance sensor; radiometric sensor; near-infrared sensor; Lidar; Radar; x-ray; weight sensor. 10_A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein at least a first sensor of a first type and a second sensor of a second type are arranged in series within the first sensor station. 11_A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein a plurality of sensors is arranged in series within the first sensor station,in particular 2-10 sensors, more particularly 2-7 sensors, even moreparticularly 3-6 sensors. 27 12.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein a firstsensor is arranged upstream of a second sensor and wherein thesecond sensor is activated depending on information retrieved by the first sensor. 13.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 11, wherein thesensors are serially arranged in an upstream-downstreamarrangement and wherein a downstream sensor is activated depending on information retrieved by one or more of upstream sensor/s. 14.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 11,wherein thesensors comprise sensors of different types. 15.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein at least two of the sensors are arranged in parallel with each other. 16.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 15, wherein inthe at least two sensors arranged in parallel with each other are arranged in series with at least one further sensor. 17.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein theoutput data of the sensors is arranged to be combined in a fusion process. 18.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 17, wherein the fusion process is done in a centralized manner. 19.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 17, wherein the fusion process is done in a decentralized manner. 28 20.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein some of the sensors are arranged in a competitive configuration. 21 .A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, wherein some of the sensors are arranged in a complementary configuration. 22.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 7, whereinsensors are arranged in a manner such that less energy requiring sensors are arranged upstream of more energy requiring sensors. 23.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 22, wherein amore energy requiring sensors is activated in dependence ofinformation retrieved by a less energy requiring sensor. 24.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 1, wherein thefirst sorting station comprises at least one robot arranged to sortgeological material being transported by the conveying system. 25.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 24, wherein thefirst sorting station comprises a group of robots. 26.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 25, wherein thegroup of robots are arranged in an upstream-downstream arrangement along the track of the conveying system. 27. A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 24, whereinseparate tracks of the conveying system comprise separate firstsorting stations. 29 28.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 24, wherein theat least one robot arranged to sort geological material comprises gripping means for picking and placing geological material. 29.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 24, wherein theat least one robot arranged to sort geological material comprisesvacuum suction means for picking and placing geological material. 30.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 24, wherein theat least one robot arranged to sort geological material comprises pushing means for moving geological material during sorting thereof. 31 .A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 3, wherein theentrance area comprises openings having pre-defined width and/orheight. 32.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 3, wherein thewidth and/or height of the openings are adapted to a particle size of therespective tracks such the particles can only pass through theopenings one at the time. 33.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 3, wherein theconveying system comprises one or more conveyor belts per track. 34.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 33, wherein atleast one of the tracks comprises more than one conveyor belt andwherein the conveyor belts are arranged to be operated at different speeds. 35.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 33, wherein theconveying system comprises one or more conveyor belts per track. 36.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 1, wherein afurther sensor station and/or sorting station is arranged between thefirst sorting station and the exit area. 37.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 1, wherein afurther sensor station and a further sorting station are arrangedbetween the first sorting station and the exit area and wherein thebeneficiation arrangement is arranged to use information retrieved byat least the further sensor station for system optimization. 38.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 37, wherein theinformation retrieved by at least the further sensor station is relayedback into the system for quality check purposes. 39.A beneficiation arrangement in accordance with claim 1, wherein acontrol unit is provided for receiving information from at least the firstsensor station. 40.l\/lethod for beneficiation of geological material, comprising thefollowing steps: - feeding the geological material through an entrance area; - transporting the geological material from the entrance area to a firstsensor station comprising at least one sensor by means of aconveying system; - determining a property of the geological material by means of said at least one sensor; 31 - transporting the geological material from the first sensor station to afirst sorting station by means of the conveying system;- sorting the geological material; and- transporting the geological material from the first sorting station to5 an exit area where the geological material leaves the beneficiationarrangement,wherein the operation of said first sorting station is based on information retrieved by said first sensor station. 10 41 .Use of a beneficiation arrangement in accordance with any of claims 1to 39.