Separation factor of shaking table for vanadium pre-concentration was intensively investigated to search for the dominant factor making vanadium-bearing particles separated from stone coal. The density factor was not the main reason for vanadium pre-concentration, only assisting the separation in the roughing and scavenging stage. The granularity factor had nearly no effect on the separation. The V2O5 grade in the particle related with the particle shape, which in the lamellar particles were much higher than that in the irregular granular particles. Both micro-measurement method and free settling method for determining the shape coefficient were used to quantify the effect of the shape factor on the separation based on a physical analysis of the force balance acting on the particles. The results indicated that the shape factor was the dominant factor for the separation of vanadium-bearing minerals with shaking table. These findings proposed that the lamellar shape vanadium-bearing particle would be protected in the grinding process and the operation parameters and table deck structure would be optimized according to the shape factor to improve the separation effect. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.