US3722678A - Mineral concentrator and method of concentrating - Google Patents

Mineral concentrator and method of concentrating Download PDF

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Publication number
US3722678A
US3722678A US00150995A US3722678DA US3722678A US 3722678 A US3722678 A US 3722678A US 00150995 A US00150995 A US 00150995A US 3722678D A US3722678D A US 3722678DA US 3722678 A US3722678 A US 3722678A
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United States
Prior art keywords
hutches
concentrator
hutch
mineral
surge tank
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Expired - Lifetime
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US00150995A
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English (en)
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E Potter
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Marine Science Ind Inc
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Marine Science Ind Inc
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
    • B03B—SEPARATING SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS
    • B03B5/00—Washing granular, powdered or lumpy materials; Wet separating
    • B03B5/60—Washing granular, powdered or lumpy materials; Wet separating by non-mechanical classifiers, e.g. slime tanks 

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT Relatively heavy mineral or metal is rapidly and efficiently separated from lighter particulate material with which it is mixed. An aqueous slurry of the mixture is drawn through a series of hutches, the bottoms of consecutive hutches being disposed in ascending sawtooth arrangement.
  • the heavier mineral settles to the bottom of the hutch, where an openable and closable discharge port is located, while the lighter material is carried to the next hutch.
  • a surge tank By connecting a surge tank to the bottom of the hutches and filling the entire unit with water, the hutches can be discharged without disrupting the separation process.
  • I-Iumphreys spiral concentrator Another type of equipment is the I-Iumphreys spiral concentrator, operating solely on gravity flow, but utilizing several turns of a conduit having a modified semicircular cross section. Washwater, supplied from a small channel paralleling the main channel, washes away fine gangue and other diluent particles. Although effective, this equipment is extremely expensive and bulky, making it impractical for use in concentrating large volumes of dilute mineral product.
  • the present invention provides a simple and relatively inexpensive way to continuously process large volumes of relatively low grade ore. Indeed, the invention makes it economically feasible to reprocess tailings resulting from previous separation methods.
  • the equipment of the invention is susceptible to precise and delicate adjustment to achieve either complete removal of the desired mineral along with some impurity, or separation in which there is substantially no impurity remaining in the concentrate.
  • the equipment and process of the invention are likewise adaptable to a wide variety of feed material, ranging from placer mining operations to removal of lead shot from lake bottoms.
  • the invention proves useful in processing the tailings from other less efficient operations.
  • the shot can be so cleanly separated from sand and other particulate diluent that it can be dried and, withoutfurther modification, used in the reloading of shotgun shells.
  • the machinery of the invention can be used in processing deposits of minerals on the beds of lakes, streams and shallow portions of the ocean.
  • the invention will be useful in the concentration of barite, or barytes (BaSO found in admixture with sand and crushed sea shells at the bottom of bodies of water such as Bering Sea.
  • a hydraulic dredge for example, utilizes a drill to loosen a river bed, pumping the resultant slurry of silt and water to another barge, where the silt is collected and the water returned to the river. (Alternatively, of course, the slurry can be pumped onto marshy land to render it more usable.) Occasionally a relatively large rockwill be sucked up by the pipe on the river bottom; since this would damage the pump if it were not removed, it is customary to have a som'ewhat'enlarged chamber, or rock box on the barge, located between the feed pipe and the pump. The rocks fall to the bottom of these boxes and are removedfrom time to time.
  • the present invention utilizes equipment similar to the dredging equipment just described, except that the rock box" is replaced by a hutch-preferably a connected series of hutches-which provide for settling of the heavier mineral which it is desired to concentrate.
  • Each hutch is a chamber having an input and an output on opposite walls, a sloping bottom extending upward from the input wall to the output. Provision is made for removing the concentrate without disrupting the continuity of the operation; this advantageous result is accomplished by connecting the bottoms of the hutches to a closed liquid-filled surge tank, into which the concentrate in the hutches can be discharged and from which the concentrate can be subsequently removed.
  • FIGURE depicts a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a concentrator made inaccordance with the in- I vention.
  • the concentrator comprises seriesconnected hutches 10, 20 and 30 mounted above surge tank 40.
  • Feed line- 50 connects to h'utch 10, while tailings line 60 connects to hutch 30.
  • Each hutch 10, 20, 30 comprises a ceiling ll, 21, 31, a rear walll'2, 22, 32, a front wall 13,23, 33, and a sloping floor 14, 24, 34, at the rear (input) and lower end of which is concentrate discharge outlet 15, 25, 35.
  • Beneath hutches 10, 20, 30 and an integral part of the preferred form of the concentrator is surge tank 40, having float valve air vents 41, 42, 43 at its highest points.
  • Water line 44 is used to provide priming and makeup water in a manner which will be described subsequently, valve 45 being provided for control.
  • Bleeder valve 46 located at the highest point'of the. concentrator (in the ceiling of one of the hutches) provides for" eliminating the last traces of air from the system.
  • concentrate discharge port 47 Located at the bottom of surge tank 40 is concentrate discharge port 47, provided with gate 48, desirably having resilient neoprene face 48a to insure good sealing. Fluid cylinder 49 may be used to actuate gate 48.
  • concentrate funnel 70 Located below surge tank 40 is concentrate funnel 70, through which all concentrate is ultimately transported.
  • Input line 50 connects to inlet 18 in hutch and serves as the conduitfor introducing a slurry to be concentrated.
  • an elutriating agent e.g., Na PO
  • Centrifugal pump 52 located at the discharge and of theconcentrator unit, provides the vacuum which draws the feed slurry through the system, variable (which advantageously has about 20 slope), resting on gate 16.
  • gate 16 When a sufficient amount of concentrate has been accumulated, as may be determined through an observation port, gate 16 is opened, permitting the concentrate to fall into surge tank 40. Alternatively gate 16 may be arranged to open when a predetermined weight of concentrate rests upon it. Because surge tank 40 is also full of water, the system is not disturbed and no speed drive motor 53 permitting the adjustment of flow rates to effect the desired results.
  • Vacuum gauget54 is mounted just upstream from pump 52, providing a simple way of determining the operatingco'nditions and duplicating results. Effluent containing water and tailings is discharged through outlet line 55 into tailings line 60 via pump 52. v
  • Valve 45 is opened to permit the introduction of water (or other suitable liquid) through line 44 to fill surge tank 40 and hutches 10, 20, 30. Air escapes through vents 41, 42 and 43 until water fills the valves and they are sealed by their respective'floats. Bleeder valve 46 is then opened to insure removal of the last traces of air, after which valve is closed. Gates 16, 26, and 36 are then closed.
  • Input line 50 is then inserted into a source of slurrie'd particulate containing mineral which is to be concentrated and pump 52 started, its speed being adjusted to provide the desired degree of vacuum.
  • hutch 10 As feed slurry enters hutch 10, the solids content tends to drop, and if operating conditions are 'properly adjusted, the material having a higher specific gravity will strike sloping floor l4, slurry containing lighter particulate material and a lesser amount of heavier material being carried over to hutch 20 through overflow opening 19.
  • the shape of hutch 20 establishes an eddy current in the slurry remaining therein, further inducing settling of the heavier mineral and washing away of the lighter particulate. The heavier mineral gradually slides or tumbles to the bottom of hutch l0 noticeable effect on continued separation and flow takes place. Gate 16 is then reclosed.
  • gate 48 When sufficient concentrate has collected at the bottom of surge tank 40, gate 48 is opened and the concentrate allowed to fall through collecting funnel into a suitable container. As gate 48 is opened, air enters the system, but it collects only in surge tank 40, since closed gates 16, 26, 36, keep it from entering hutches 10, 20, 30. Gate 48 is then closed and makeup water supplied through water line 44, forcing the air in surge tank 40 up and out through float valve vents 41, 42, 43, restoring the system to its original condition.
  • Surge tank 40 is, to the best of the inventors knowledge and belief, un iquein either concentrating or dredging equipment. As previously indicated, it performs the extremely valuable service of permitting continuous operation, completely avoidingthe introduction of air into the pump with consequent loss of prime and disruption of equilibrium operating conditions. It will nevertheless be appreciated that many of the advantages of the invention can be attained, especially for short runs, by merely utilizing the hutches. It is believed that there has never heretofore existed a concentrator with slope-bottomed hutches on the input side of the feed line, and it appears that unique results are attained.
  • a surge tank having a concentrate discharge port at the lower portion thereof, said concentrate discharge port being provided with an openable and closable gate;
  • suction means to provide suction forward of said tailings outlet opening to draw said slurry into said feed inlet opening.
  • suction means is a variable speed centrifugal pump.
  • each'of the gates can be quickly opened' or closed by actuating a fluid cylinder connected thereto.
  • a method of concentrating a relatively heavy particulate mineral which is intermixed with relatively lighter particulate material comprising the steps of:
  • a. providing a series of connected hutches, each having a ceiling, a relatively short front wall, a relatively tall rear wall, and a floor sloping downwardly front to rear connecting the bottom of the rear wall to the bottom of the front wall, each of said hutches having an opening at the upper portion of both its front wall and its rear wall;

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  • Separation Of Solids By Using Liquids Or Pneumatic Power (AREA)
  • Non-Alcoholic Beverages (AREA)
US00150995A 1971-06-08 1971-06-08 Mineral concentrator and method of concentrating Expired - Lifetime US3722678A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

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US15099571A 1971-06-08 1971-06-08

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US3722678A true US3722678A (en) 1973-03-27

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CA (1) CA980295A (ru)
SU (1) SU520883A3 (ru)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4040961A (en) * 1975-06-26 1977-08-09 Coaltek Associates Separation of solids from a liquid
US5255787A (en) * 1991-05-03 1993-10-26 John Sims Lead shot reclamation device and method
US5421571A (en) * 1991-05-23 1995-06-06 Hensen Gmbh Apparatus for the separate supply of film bags to a filing machine

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4040961A (en) * 1975-06-26 1977-08-09 Coaltek Associates Separation of solids from a liquid
US5255787A (en) * 1991-05-03 1993-10-26 John Sims Lead shot reclamation device and method
US5421571A (en) * 1991-05-23 1995-06-06 Hensen Gmbh Apparatus for the separate supply of film bags to a filing machine

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
SU520883A3 (ru) 1976-07-05
CA980295A (en) 1975-12-23

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