107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection ® 911 Metallurgist 54A Practical Guide to Mineral Processing Engineering Contact Us ink and Float Separation Process The Sink and Float Separation Metallurgical Content Process is an alternative to the staturgieat conten progressive depletion, during the 0.1 Sink and Float PROCESS History and Development last quarter century, of ores 0.2 QUIESCENT SEPARATION which could be economically 0.3 SIZE OF ORE FEEDING A SINK & FLOAT SEPARATOR, treated by the old methods of 0.4 Sink and Float Process DESCRIPTION gravity concentration 0.4.1 OPERATING CIRCUITS necessitated the development of 0.4.2 COMMERCIAL Sink and Float PLANTS: 0.5 Operating Cost of Sink & Float Plants 0.6 When is a Sink & Float Process Applicable or Appropriate 1 SINK FLOAT TEST PROCEDURE more efficient methods of concentration, the most successful and widely used of these methods being the Flotation Process. But during the past few years millman have realized that there is still a place for improved gravity concentration in a modern flowsheet, either in conjunction with flotation or alone. This is the result of the commercial application of the more refined and accurately controlled method of gravity concentration known as the Sink and Float Process. hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process ane102072017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection Sink and Float PROCESS History and Development For many years there have been effected in laboratory work separations of ore particles of different specific gravities through immersion of the mixed particles in a medium of a true heavy liquid with a specific gravity intermediate between the specific gravities of the heavy and light particles to be separated. The particles of Lower specific gravity float on the surface of the medium, while the particles of higher specific gravity sink to the bottom. The two types of particles are removed separately from the medium and a separation of particles achieved according to the individual specific gravities. The principle hardly needs elaboration. Its application to ore dressing depends upon the fact that the specific gravity of valuable minerals generally differs from the specific gravity of the worthless gangue with which it is associated and from which substantial portions can usually be freed by crushing The earlier processes of this type employed suspension media which were of low kinetic stability; that is to say, the solids of the media would rapidly settle out unless kept in suspension by some form of agitation, In 1928 the deVooys Process was introduced for the separation of shale from coal. This process employs as “medium” a practically stable suspension of barytes and clay in water whose high kinetic stability makes it possible to dispense with stirring devices for maintaining uniformity of suspension, Thus the separation takes place in a quiescent medium—a most important point, since currents in the medium are bound to interfere to a greater or lesser degree with the accuracy of the gravity separation taking place in the medium. Since 1931, commercial deVooys plants have been installed capable of handling over millions of tons annually. Utilizing the experience of their associated company with the deVooys plants for coal, employing relatively low separating medium densities, Huntington, Heberlein & Company, Ltd., Whitford, Holywell, North Wales, Great Britain, perfected the Sink and Float Process for higher separating medium densities with the resultant broadening of the field to include other non- metallic as well as metallic ores. QUIESCENT SEPARATION The speed at which the separation of the “sink” from the “float” particles takes place depends upon the weight of individual particles and also on the difference in specific gravity between the particles and the medium. Thus, the large or heavy particles sink fast, and separation of these from float particles is easily achieved while the smaller particles, or those with a small gravity differential from the medium, are not as readily separated. Comparatively large particles, viz., ¥- hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process 216.107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection importance of quiescent conditions. In practice the finer fractions of the ore are not subjected to Sink and Float treatment, as even under the best conditions the rate of separation would be uneconomically slow. If there are currents in the medium, this puts an even higher limit to the fine size of the ore which can be 5 4successfully separated. The Sink and Float Process reduces medium currents to a minimum with the following benefits: * Prevents interference with accuracy of separation by classifying effects. * Reduces the fine size limit at which ore can be separated. * Increases the recovery of particles of marginal density. FIGURE I—H. H. SINK AND FLOAT SEPARATOR DRAINAGE AND WASHING SCREENS Undue Medion Te. Sepertor, Die weston "a Tochoner SIZE OF ORE FEEDING A SINK & FLOAT SEPARATOR In the case of the so-called “metallic” ores the density of the separating medium is adjusted so that only those pieces of mineralized gangue float which carry a small particle of mineral. These lightly mineralized gangue particles are mixed with a large proportion of barren gangue so that the average assay of the float is not high. On the other hand, the heavily mineralized gangue pieces are found in the sink product, which is not generally high enough grade to be a finished product but is usually ground finer for further concentration. In operation the role of Sink and Float is to reject a substantial proportion of the gangue as a worthless tailing of coarse size. These tailings are usually of the same or of Lower grade than could be obtained by other processes, while the costly operations of fine grinding and flotation are avoided for a large proportion of the ore. This hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process ans.107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection the application to finer sizes is now being developed. The upper size limit depends upon the degree of freedom of the mineral after crushing to various sizes; it is seldom above 1%-inch. Thus ores are treated in the full size range from 1¥%-inch to 3/32-inch, without intermediate sizing Heavy Media Separation Sink and Float Process DESCRIPTION The separation achieved in the H. H. Sink and Float Process is obtained by using: + Apparatus which carries out its necessary function of removing separated products with a minimum of disturbance of the medium. + Medium of high kinetic stability. Apparatus: The apparatus used for the separation is shown above in Figure I. The ore is fed by chute (1) into the separating vessel (2) which is mainly an inverted truncated pyramid. The top sides are vertical and it is in the zone enclosed by these vertical sides that separation takes place. On top of these vertical sides are four paddles (3), having horizontal shafts and each extending completely across the separating zone. The paddle on the right in the figure is of smaller diameter than the others and revolves about twice as fast; its function being to insure that all the ore feed is completely immersed in the medium. The two center paddles are transporting paddles; they dip slightly into the medium at the bottom of each revolution and move the float slowly across the bath, The paddle on the Left in the figure is the float discharge paddle; it receives the float and pushes it, together with a certain amount of medium, over the edge of the separator. The bottom of the separating vessel is connected to the boot of the bucket elevator (4). The ore which sinks below the paddles gradually falls to the boot of the elevator and is dredged up by the buckets. The buckets are perforated and lift the ore a few feet above the medium level so that the medium in the buckets drains out before the sink product is discharged from the buckets. In the hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process an107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection stability can be achieved by fine grinding, but such a suspension could not be sufficiently fluid for the ore particles to move freely in their separation, On the other hand, an excess of coarse particles yields a high fluidity of the medium, but such a medium is not stable without a stirring device to prevent settling out. In the H. H. Sink and Float Process optimum fluidity and stability are achieved through control of size distribution of the medium particles and without any stirring or agitation of 54the medium. Although the medium has high kinetic stability, there is naturally a tendency to settle out, for which due compensation is provided. To counteract this incipient settling, a small flow of medium is drawn over the weir (5) in the elevator casing. This flow is controlled by adjusting the weir height and is held so that itis just sufficient to withdraw the medium which is beginning to settle out at the bottom of the separator. FIGURE II— ORE CIRCUIT FIGURE III— MEDIUM CIRCUIT am MEDIUM + INK. REJECT PRopuct water i [Cigar tensiry tan] ro waste ena WEAN? GENS TaN Thus, medium is flowing out of the separator at two points, namely at the elevator weir and at the float discharge. Medium is fed into the separator at a controlled rate equal to the two discharges; one with the float reject and the other over the weir. The medium which is fed into the separator consists of a mixture of these two flows of medium emerging from the separator. The medium is actually slowly circulating, first into the separator, then out at two points and then back into the separator. The rate of circulation equals the replacement of the entire contents of the separator in 20 to 40 minutes. The high kinetic stability of the medium, combined with the stow withdrawal of medium from the bottom of the separator, yields a small difference in density (in practice only 0.2) between the feed medium and the medium at the bottom of the separator. This is an important factor as it prevents an increase in medium density downward from separating zone to bottom of separator to a degree sufficient to cause a piece of sink product, once separated near the top, to be prevented from hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process a6107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection Heavy Media Separation Process: Rocks are Floating 54, OPERATING CIRCUITS The foregoing has described the principles underlying the design and operation of the Sink and Float Separator. The manner in which the plant is operated in practice is shown above. The ore Circuit and the medium circuit are shown separately for clarity, though actually they Link up together. Ore Circuit: Figure I! illustrates the ore circuit. The ore, crushed to all pass 1%-inch, is fed at a regular rate to the washing and sizing screen, where 3/32-inch ore and slime are removed. From there the coarse ore goes to a slow-moving, inclined drainage conveyor, which removes surplus water and also acts as a feeder to the separator (2). The separated float and sink products are removed from the separator, as described above, to drainage and washing screens (6). On the drainage screens the free medium is first drained off for return to the separator. Then the medium adhering to the float and the sink is washed off on the washing screens, leaving the float ready for rejection and the sink for any further processing that may be necessary. Medium Circuit: The medium circuit is shown above in Figure ||. The medium of near operating density, which drains from the first of the screens, is returned by an elevator to the separator. The hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process ans.107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection to the medium elevator at the rate required to maintain the correct medium density in the operating circuit. There are two other operations necessary to maintain the medium in good condition. The medium becomes contaminated with ore in a granular and ina slime condition, owing to the impossibility 540f completely freeing the original ore feed from these materials. The accumulation of these S%**mnaterials in the medium causes deterioration of both stability and fluidity and they must be removed. The granular portion is removed by means of a fine screen in the medium circuit. The finer contaminant is removed by “bleeding off” a portion of the medium, cleaning it by flotation, and returning the cleaned material to the circuit. The manner in which the medium is bled off and returned to the circuit depends on what is most convenient for the particular operation—the necessity is simply to maintain the operating medium ina sufficiently uncontaminated condition. Often the washings are used as feed for a cleaning operation and the cleaned material is brought to the necessary density either independently in a small filter or in the thickener. The second operation is the provision of new make-up medium. This is required to compensate for the small loss of medium left adhering to the products after final washing and for the need of replacing worn medium. The loss on the products depends upon the nature of the ore, but is small. A oss of only 0.1 lb. of medium per ton of product has been attained. The replacement of worn medium is necessary periodically, but is not a loss. The necessary portion is extracted from the Circuit in a high grade condition and is ready for sale at the full market price; an equivalent quantity of newly prepared medium takes its place in the circuit. The preparation of new medium consists of normal grinding and classification processes. The grinding and classifying are carried out in such a manner that the necessary size distribution is obtained in the material sent to the medium circuit. hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process m8:107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection ro waste ‘eoua penne i i WASHING. WATER cone 4 = oe come conor an y 3A > a eno 1 0 WATER t as He \ TARE AT See. ‘a ' f Ki | umes ib T : = A macner. ees or BLOCKS, \ rl ' eae, i seas | nae veavveon omar = is hoisted into cone containing heavy liquid. Concentrate. in suspension is recovered! by magnetism. Below left, ore fed to the conveyor belt as tunnel grows In American Cyanomid’s Heavy-Media process, floats off top, waste sinks, or vie and waste move across par COMMERCIAL Sink and Float PLANTS At least 4 commercial H. H. Sink and Float plants, had a capacity to treat more than 1,000,000 tons annually, have been constructed: 1. Halkyn United District Mines, Ltd., North Wales, Great Britain 2. Miniere Cave di Predil, Raibl, Italy 3. Central European Mines, Mezica, Jugo-Slavia 4, Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company, Kellogg, Idaho Today, the Nystar East Tennessee plant runs at 2,000,000 or so TPY. Two more plants are under construction in the United States with a combined capacity of a further 1,500,000 tons annually. As for example, the H. H. Sink and Float unit installed by Bunker Hill was designed to handle 1,700 hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process ans.107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection testing, of which the following is a typical result: Weight Assay Distribution % Pb % Pb Float 573 0.4 06 3.3 Sink 42.7 15.8 6.0 96.7 Feed 100.0 7.0 2.9 100.0 Recent results for a month's operation of the commercial plant show: Weight Assay Distribution %Pb%Zn Ph Zn Float 51.2 0.42 0.62 3.41 9.07 Sink 488 1245 652 96.59 90.93 Feed 100.0 6.29 3.50 100.00 100.00 The Sink and Float separator at Bunker Hill receives about 70 percent of the mine ore of sizes ranging from 1%-inch to 1/8-inch. It rejects as unneconomic coarse waste about 50 percent of the separator feed, or in other words, about 35 percent of the whole mine output. The remaining 65 percent of the mine ore, made up of 30 percent fines and 35 percent sink product, is further crushed, ground and concentrated in the mill proper. On the basis of a mill handling 1,000 tons daily before the installation of Sink and Float, it is possible to handle 1,500 tons of mine ore with Sink and Float. After rejection of 500 tons as float the unit returns 1,000 tons to the mill. In other words, the mill output is substantially increased through the elimination of a sizeable portion of gangue from the mine ore before milling The feed may contain some disseminated values. By raising or lowering the density of the separating medium, more or less of these disseminated values appear in the float product. Thus within limits the tailing assay from the Sink and Float operation can be raised or Lowered ina controlled manner with, of course, an increase or decrease respectively in the proportion of such tailings produced, The alteration in the proportion of Sink and Float tailings affects the subsequent milling capacity and costs. Its therefore possible to control the medium density in the Sink and Float operation to give the best economic balance between tailing assay and total milling costs Operating Cost of Sink & Float Plants Labor: For operating the separator, together with the medium circuit, two operators per shift are usually required for either a large or small plant. Power: Power consumption varies with the size of the plant. For a 1,500 to 2,000 tons per day plant the consumption is 0.7 kwh per ton of mine ore. Water: Consumption of water is extremely low. The only loss of water, aside from climatic evaporation, is the water carried away as moisture adhering to the products leaving the plant-This can be reduced to less than 10 gallons per ton of ore treated. The water used in washing medium off the sink and float products is recovered as thickener overflow. This is sufficient in amount for the primary washing of the ore. Where the products of the hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process ans.107207017 Sinkand Float Separaton Process, Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection percent solids, so that the introduction of the Sink and Float treatment does not lead to any additional water consumption. Maintenance: No heavy maintenance costs are incurred. The main items requiring replacement are screen plates and sink elevator parts. 54 S%*'Capital Cost: The cost of an installation depends materially on its size and location, Under normal conditions the cost of equipment, exclusive of installation and housing, would be from $15 to $35, per ton of daily capacity depending on the size of the plant. When is a Sink & Float Process Applicable or Appropriate The process may be used for pre-treatment of certain ores, both metallic and non-metallic, with the object of reducing over-all treatment costs, reducing over-all installation costs and increasing ultimate mill capacity without large capital expenditures. It may be used to permit cheaper, non-selective methods of mining, since wall rock and low grade ore can be cheaply handled with good recoveries. It may be used for preliminary reclamation of values in tailing dumps. It may be used to make a salable product, in the case of some non-metallic ores, and where necessary excessive treatment of refractory or friable metallic ores leads to heavy losses. Sink and Float treatment is not confined to lead and zinc ores or to those ores suitable only for jigging or tabling. Provided a substantial proportion of uneconomic gangue is freed at a coarse size, it may be removed from the ore by Sink and Float treatment regardless of the subsequent treatment necessary to free and recover the values. SINK FLOAT TEST PROCEDURE Sink float tests aid in the evaluation of products, identification of minerals and give approximate separation of gangue minerals. Sink Float Concentration is used in mineral dressing laboratories for: 1. Separation of samples into different specific gravities to aid in the identification of minerals. 2. Determining the separation which can be made between the heavier minerals and lighter gangue minerals. 3. Evaluation of products by separating into sink and float fractions. Sink-Float Tests are classed as bulk or selective separations. A bulk test gives two products, first, the lighter minerals with a gravity less than 2.8 to 3.3 and, second, minerals having a gravity heavier than 2.8 to 3.3. The separation depends on the gravity of the media used. The heavy media generally used are as follows: 1. Acetylene Tetrabromide having a specific gravity of 2.964 at 20°C hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process ras.107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection ‘decanting ott the neavy Liquid. Tests on fine sized products are made by using a separatory funnel. The sink product is the drawof, A selective sink float separation can be made by removing the heaviest minerals as a sink product and adding a sufficient amount of diluting media, such as carbon tetrachloride to acetylene 4tetrabromide, to give the desired lower gravity. This will allow the next heavier minerals to slieseparate as a sink product. Recovery of the media for reuse may be by virtue of different boiling points or miscibility in other liquids. WEIGHED SAMPLE WEIGHED SAMPLE ~I0 MESH MATERIAL +10 MESH MATERIAL i STIR C7 Frost LADLED OFF} STIR DECANT SUPE RNATENT LiguiD REGOVER SINK PRODUCT RECOVER SINK PRODUGT Here below from the Popular Mechanics. hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process ate107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection 54 “we I conveyor belt drops ore in Diesel trectortraier ied wht oye fot meling exinest sowpebnece hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process Oz YOU CANT operate Diesel trucks underground,” the visiting engineer argued. “Phe carbon monoxide fumes will Keil every man in the mine.” The visitor was deep in an Eagle-Picher lead-zine mine in Oklahoma and had just watched a big Dicacl tractor rumble by, towing a 10-ton load of ore. The mine's superintendent grinned, “Usually that’s true,” he admitted, “only those trucks don't give off carbon monox- ide. There’s a constant chemical change in the exhaust pipe, transforming the monox- ide to carbon dioxide. We feed pure oxy- gen into the exhaust from a tank on the truck and the nonpoisonous gases that come out of the pipe are swept away by normal mine ventilation. The drivers and miners work all day in perfect safety. In European mines where adequate ven- tilation exists or ean be created, air com- pressors, bulldozers and hundreds of in- Ponel control feeds on into sabenety comrent yon from tank under oor Tome ete vie dhonibe: POPULAR MECHANICS wane.107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection Fichest ores become exhausted. doesn’t mean, says the mining industry, that the United States is approaching the status of a “have not” nation, in reserves. ‘Temporary shortages in such metals as copper have been due to a high demand plus rising extraction costs, factors that eventually level themselves out. ‘The fact is that vast amounts of metallic and nonmetallic minerals are still in the ground, in many cases in quantities suffi- Gient for our needs for centuries. Some of these reserves, however, are in the form of low-grade ores that cannot be worked profitably by methods used in the past. More efficient and safer ways of handling the material underground and better ways of concentrating and refining it. are being developed, ‘The, exhaust purifier is one innovation in underground tratfsport; another is use of rubber conveyor belts for moving ore from a working face through the tun: nel system and up to the surface. The end- less belts follow the configuration of seams, can carry materials around sharp corners, and can boost heavy loads up steep grades to the surface. One immense conveyor belt, half a mile long, is being installed by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in an Alabama coal imine. It will raise 600 tons of coal per hour to the surface from 715 feet underground, perhaps the greatest climb ever attempted by a conveyor belt. Forty-two inches wide and weighing 42 tons, the belt is reinforced by 980 sicel cables in its carcass in place of the usual fabrie cords. Two 300-horsepower motors rotate the belt, which will carry its load up a slope of approximately 17 degrees. ‘Underground air conditioning is receiv- ing considerable study as a safety measure in gaseous or dusty mines and for greater ‘comfort. In some deep mines without air conditioning, the constant temperature Sands at 100 degrees or higher. ‘Tele: phones are replacing pipe-rapping an thor malceshife signaling methads and in some mines electric eyes sound horns at tunnel intersections to warn of the ap- proach of ore trains. Tungsten-earbide points on rock drills are being adopted because they permit faster drilling with fewer hit changes. Mine timbers can be set by a new machine that does the work of a gang of men, and push- button elevators in some of the mines are saving travel time as well as eliminating hpe:wn9t metal largist.comblog/sinlot-seperation process. 116‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection 2S \ practically all ladder climbing. In open- cut operation on the surface, massive pieces of equipment that take bigger bites ‘or handle bigger loads than ever are in use An electric cable that won't spark when short-cireuited may help prevent coal- mine explosions, A fine:strand of copper wire between two layers of insulation catches any current “leaks” before an are can occur. The wire carries current to a circuit breaker which cuts off the power. The flotation process that gleans the val- uable ingredients from a wide range of hps:iam9tmetallurgistcomblog/sinlat-seperation process New chemicals have been added for float- ing minerals, other chemicals that assist n depressing unwanted materials have been found, and wetting agents such as ‘Aerosol are being employed to increase the ‘efficiency of the operation. A development hailed as one of the most Important since flotation eame into use is the recent adaptation to big-seale opera tions of the “sink float” concentrating process, which is a method formerly used aly in the laboratory Sink-float process automatically sorts the useless and lowest grade materials from an ore, leaving s concentrate that ean be milled ai minimum expense. When coarse preliminary crushing of a ore and the sinke-loat separation are per formed underground, as is contemplated, the cost of hoisting tons of useless material to the surface, transporting it to the mill, and running it through the mill will be avoided entirely. Tho sink-float process consists of passing an ore through a bath composed of a heavy (Continued to pege 244)107207017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process 1516102072017 ‘Sirkand Float Separation Process Checkout our Mining Process & Lab Equipment Selection CLICK HERE TO ENTER 54 Source: This article is a reproduction of an excerpt of “In the Public Domain” documents held in 91.1 Metallurgy Corp's private library. By David Michaud | June 9th, 2016 | Categories: Flowsheets & Flowcharts, Gravity Concentration | Tags: Dense Mecia Separation, DMS, Heavy Media Separation, HMS | Comments Off Related Posts 2 x BUY Laboratory & Have a Mineral Need Small Plant Processing ENGINEERING Process Equipment QUESTION? Services or Plant We have alll the Come in, ask your TROUBLESHOOTING? laboratory and plant question We can IMPROVE ALL equipment you need to PLANTS / Mineral test or build/operate Processing Engineering your plant. & LABORATORY Ore Testing hitpeviam9ttmetallurgist.comiblog|sineloat-sepeation process 1816.