Advanced gravity separation

Abstract

Gravity separation methods which exploit the difference in densities of minerals to bring about a separation are the oldest beneficiation techniques known to mankind. Although with the advent of froth flotation, the relative importance of gravity separation in twentieth century has gone down, substantially higher tonnage of material is treated by gravity concentration than by flotation. Gravity separation is by far the most utilized concentration technique and is an integral part of most mineral processing flowsheets including the processing of coal, beach sands, iron, gold, platinum, tin, tungsten and chromium ores. Gravity based processes are comparatively more economical and environment friendly.