GB777280A - Improvements in or relating to the concentration of ore - Google Patents

Abstract

777,280. Jet mills; froth flotation and magnetic separators. TEXACO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. Feb. 24, 1955 [March 3, 1954], No. 5546/55. Classes 59, 82(2) and 117 A method of producing finely divided ore concentrate comprises mixing coarsely granular ore with a vaporizable liquid, heating the liquid to form a dispersion of the ore with the vapour, producing a high velocity turbulent flow in the dispersion to disintegrate the ore to relatively fine particles and separating the particles rich in values from the gaugue particles. As shown, a mixture of water and the coarse ore from a tank 11 may be passed through heater tubes 17 in a heater 19 and then to opposed jets 25, 27, in a jet mill. The high velocity in the jets breaks down the ore to fine particles which may be passed to a cooler 33 to which may be added water, and the pulp so produced may be subjected to froth flotation in an apparatus 41. In a modification, Fig. 3 (not shown), the opposed jets may be replaced by a nozzle in which the cross-section decreases and then increases. Instead of froth flotation, the separation may be made by a magnetic separator. In Fig. 4 this comprises a magnet 139 within a drum 137, the relatively non-magnetic middling material being carried counter-clockwise off the side of the drum into a receptacle 141; the magnetic concentrate is carried clockwise and taken off the drum by a clockwise rotating magnetic collector wheel 143. The separator shown in Fig. 5 consists of an inclined endless belt 161, the top run of which passes above an elongated magnet 163. Magnetic material is discharged at 165 and the non-magnetic particles flow off at 171 with the slurry water. Specifications 683,318 and 747,261 are referred to.