PRECONCENTRATION AND ORE SORTING
Able to offer density differentiation on material with particle sizes ranging from 10 mm to 120 mm and at speeds of 3 m / s on conveyors, the dual energy XRT allsort solution is suitable for throughput capacities up to 150 t / h per machine unit, allmineral says
this space because ShovelSense provides a resolution of post-blast grade predictions that have never before been possible, and BeltSense provides the linkage to downstream systems for feed forward and backward optimisation. Our focus is on ensuring that data doesn’ t live in isolation but instead flows into the platforms where operational and planning decisions are actually made – through collaborations like the one with GEOVIA.”
Going plant based
Germany-based allmineral has made a name for itself in the mineral processing sector by producing machines and plants for the processing of primary and secondary raw materials that go beyond the standard fare. Over more than 35 years, it has established a reputation for tailoring solutions to its customer needs, leveraging – where appropriate – the wider HAZEMAG Group network.
While its mineral separation solutions have been covered extensively in IM – its jigging technology, specifically, gaining recognition among the sector – details of its recently released allsort ® X-ray Transmission( XRT) sensor-based ore sorter has not graced these pages. allsort occupies a central position in the satellite plant system, according to the company, with the system not only performing dry sorting using XRT technology but also collecting valuable process data that is used for controlling and adjusting the overall process.
Richard Monteiro Ferreira, Director of Business Development for allmineral, said it has only been the last 18 months that the company has been marketing this solution to the wider sector.“ We took our time devising this solution, carrying out an extensive amount of R & D and lab-based testing to confirm that what we had can really make a difference and stand out in the sector,” he told IM.
The process works by the conveyorbased XRT sensor detecting density differences within the material based on
X-ray absorption. High absorption occurs in elements with high atomic order, while low absorption corresponds to elements with low atomic order. Based on this data, allsort classifies and sorts each individual particle according to customer-specified criteria.“ Thanks to sensor-based sorting, resource utilisation can be improved, and energy and water consumption can be significantly reduced,” the company says.“ The investment and operating costs are considerably lower than those of wet processing due to the elimination of reagents and water handling. Additionally, relative to its sorting capacity, allsort has a comparatively small footprint overall.”
Able to offer this density differentiation on material with particle sizes ranging from 10 mm to 120 mm and at belts speeds of 3 m / s, the dual energy XRT solution is suitable for throughput capacities up to 150 t / h per machine unit, allmineral says.
“ From our perspective, the allsort can be used for both particle-by-particle sorts, as well as bulk ore sorting,” Ferreria said.
The allsort is not the only XRT-based system on the market, but Ferreira focused on the mining-specific customisation element when looking for why it stands out in the market.
“ We’ re more focused on the mining and processing of high value commodities,” he said.“ We also believe the solution we have put together has been custom built for the mining sector.” allmineral is also bringing its process plant OEM credentials to the table too, which he sees as another sorting USP.
“ We already have some other dry processing technologies available, namely our allair ® jig-based system, so with that we’ re able to look at creating plant-based solutions,” he said.“ We could carry out a coarser particle sort with the allsort, and then a much finer particle sort with allair, combining the two together for a neat and efficient dry process – this is especially useful in areas without water or where there is significant competition for this process water.”
With more than 50 tests carried out for clients at its facility in Germany – in addition to the company’ s internal testing – allmineral is expecting to deploy its first allsort unit to the field this year.
“ We’ re looking at nickel, lithium, gold … those type of commodities in the hardrock space when it comes to potential deployments,” he said, adding that the company has already identified where proxy and / or direct detection will work best in such applications.
He concluded:“ Being part of the HAZEMAG Group, we understand where this solution can fit into the flowsheet and the requisite upstream and downstream counterparts. In a lot of the cases, we already have that insight to guide clients to where flowsheet improvements can be obtained using allsort.
“ We want to look at any deployment from a holistic point of view, matching the best crushing technologies with the best processing technologies and ensuring all the parts of the processing puzzle fit together nicely.””
Dual-purpose detection
Scantech International Pty Ltd has more than 40 years of experience supplying sensors for bulk diversion of conveyed material to its name.
What started in the mid-1980s with COALSCAN ash analysers – used to divert parcels of waste and‘ product quality’ material out of the wash plant feed streams – has evolved into, most recently, the development of a solution equipped for direct gold detection.
In the 1990s, Scantech’ s natural gamma based MINERALSCAN 1500 was used at Vaal Reefs in South Africa for measuring uranium content in conveyed flow as gold mineralisation was closely associated with uranium content. The analysers were installed on waste conveyors and parcels of“ waste” containing acceptable gold grade – which the sensor detected via elevated uranium content – were diverted to the mill feed so the gold could be recovered.
In the mid-2000s, multiple GEOSCAN-M PGNAA units were used for bulk parcel diversion in iron ore to measure ore quality on three overland conveyors at Assmang’ s Khumani Iron Ore operations in South Africa so product quality ore could be diverted to bypass jig plant beneficiation and reduce unnecessary processing costs. The distinct ore zones and types were expected to allow materials to be segregated in batches, so diversion was included in the plant design. This resulted in a smaller plant being built that allowed target production levels to be achieved at lower capital expenditure and about 33 % of product bypassing beneficiation, Scantech says.
68 International Mining | MARCH 2026