On-line magnetic resonance measurement of conveyed material

1. A magnetic resonance apparatus for analysing a material, the magnetic resonance apparatus including:

a primary loop defining an aperture that the material being analysed can pass through, the primary loop including:

at least one pair of electrically conductive segments; and

a pair of capacitance units corresponding to each pair of electrically conductive segments, each capacitance unit conductively connected to two adjoining conductive segments in series so that the primary loop forms a circuit for a radio frequency (RF) current;

wherein the primary loop is adapted to:

have a series resonance frequency suitable for magnetic resonance measurements of the target nuclei,

conduct the RF electrical current so that the RF electrical current is predominantly in-phase over the entire primary loop,

conduct the RF current to generate an RF magnetic field suitable for changing the magnetisation of the target nuclei, and

have an RF signal current excited in the primary loop by precession of the magnetisation of the target nuclei;

the magnetic resonance apparatus further including:

a pair of secondary coils corresponding to each pair of capacitor units, electrically conductively isolated from the primary loop, wherein each secondary coil is adapted to receive an RF excitation voltage from an RF transceiver via an electrical network, and is oriented to be magnetically coupled to the primary loop such that each secondary coil is capable of:

exciting RF voltages in the primary loop that are predominantly in-phase with each of the RF voltages excited by the other secondary coils; and

when the RF signal current is excited in the primary loop, having a corresponding RF current excited in the secondary coil to produce an RF output signal in the electrical network; and

a primary shield encompassing the primary loop and secondary coils for shielding electromagnetic radiation, the primary shield adapted to allow the material to pass through the aperture defined by the primary loop unobstructed.

2. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the primary loop is a single turn loop.

3. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive segments include either: a single conductive ribbon; or a plurality of conductive elements electrically connected to each other in parallel.

4. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the capacitance of each capacitor unit is substantially equal to each other to facilitate the production of the RF electrical currents that are predominantly in-phase over the entire primary loop.

5. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the capacitance of each capacitor unit is capable of being varied.

6. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the length of each of the electrically conductive segments is substantially equal to each other to facilitate the production of the RF electrical currents that are predominantly in-phase over the entire primary loop.

7. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the primary shield is connected to a reference voltage and one side of the secondary coil electrical network port is electrically conductively connected to the primary shield.

8. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the aperture is adapted to allow either a conveyor belt or a chute carrying the material being analysed to pass through.

9. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 1 , further including at least one secondary shield located adjacent the primary shield, the secondary shield reducing the effect of spurious electromagnetic fields on the primary loop.

10. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the secondary shield is a waveguide configured such that the material can pass through the secondary shield.

11. The magnetic resonance apparatus according to claim 1 , further including an RF transceiver, wherein the RF transceiver includes an RF generator and is configured to produce the RF excitation voltages received by the electrical networks of at least two secondary coils.

12. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 11 , further including an electrical coupling network, the electrical coupling network connected to the two or more secondary coils and the RF transceiver, wherein the electrical coupling network is configured to transmit RF electrical currents, produced by the RF transceiver, to the secondary coils such that predominantly in-phase RF excitation voltages can be produced in the primary loop.

13. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 11 , further including a sampling circuit, wherein at least one of the conductive segments is adapted to enable a voltage at a location midway along the at least one conductive segment to be sampled, and the voltage sampled from the conductive segment is converted to a suitable voltage by the sampling circuit and input into the RF transceiver to at least partially compensate for electromagnetic noise.

14. The magnetic resonance apparatus according to claim 1 , further including two or more electrically floating electrode shields, each floating electrode shield corresponding to one conductive segment and located such that the corresponding conductive segment is located between the floating electrode shield and the primary shield.

15. The magnetic resonance apparatus according to claim 1 , further including one or more pilot coils magnetically coupled to the primary loop and adapted to produce an RF magnetic field at predetermined frequencies.

16. The magnetic resonance apparatus according to claim 1 , further including one or more auxiliary coils magnetically coupled to the primary loop, the one or more auxiliary coils each having a termination, wherein the auxiliary coil alters the complex series impedance of the primary loop.

17. The magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the impedance of the termination for each auxiliary coil is adjustable with an auxiliary control unit.

18. A magnetic resonance system for analysing a material, the system including:

the magnetic resonance apparatus for analysing the material according to claim 1 ; and

a radio frequency (RF) transceiver including an RF generator and a transmit-receive switch, the RF transceiver is connected to the secondary coils and adapted to:

apply an RF pulse sequence to the secondary coils with at least an operating frequency set to a predetermined frequency capable of inducing change in the magnetisation in an ensemble of target nuclei in the material, and

receive an RF output signal generated by the secondary coils in cooperation with the transmit-receive switch.

19. A method of determining the mass of a target material in an ore, the method including:

passing a material through an aperture of a primary loop of a magnetic resonance apparatus according to claim 1 ;

exposing the material to an RF magnetic field produced by the primary loop as a result of the current induced in the primary loop according to an RF pulse sequence;

receiving an RF output signal generated by the secondary coils; and

processing the RF output signal to determine the mass or concentration of the target material.

20. The method of claim 19 , further including exposing the material to successive pulse sequences with different frequencies to effectively span a larger frequency range.