Minerals Engineering, Vol.13, No.1, 65-77, 2000
Gravity separation of ultra-fine (-0.1mm) minerals using spiral separators
Spiral separators have undergone continuous development over the past 40 years. The focus of some more recent developments has been towards the processing of progressively finer mineral particles. New model spiral separators have now been developed that are specifically designed to treat material finer than 0.1 mm. Design features are discussed and performance data on a variety of ore types are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of gravity separation on material below 0.1 mm in size using fine mineral spiral separators. Comparisons are made with data generated using spiral separators designed for treating feeds of a more conventional size range for this type of equipment.