Pinched Sluices and Cones

and Spirals

Pinched Sluices

Pinched sluices of various forms have been used for heavy

minerals separations for centuries;
An inclined trough made of wood, aluminum, steel and
fiberglass, about 1 m long, narrowing from about 200 mm in
width at the feed to about 25 mm at the discharge;

Conceptual Diagram of Basic Principle of

Pinched Sluice Concentrator

Pulp of between 50-60% solids

enters gently and stratifies as it
descends;
The materials squeeze into the
narrow discharge area. The
piling causes the bed to dilate
and allows heavy minerals to
migrate and move along the
bottom. The lighter particles are
forced to the top.
The
resulting
strata
are
separated by a splitter at the
discharge end.

Reichert Cone

A wet gravity concentrating device designed for high-capacity

applications;
Its principle of operation is similar to that of a pinched sluice, but the
pulp flow is not restricted or influenced by side-wall effect, which is
somewhat detrimental to pinched-sluice operation;
High capacity and low operating costs;
A single unit comprises several cone sections stacked vertically, so as
to permit several stages of upgrading;
The cones are made of fiberglass and are mounted in circular frames
over 6 m high; each cone is 2 m diameter and there are no moving
parts in the unit

The system shown is one of the

many possible systems using
double
and
single
cones,
together with trays, which direct
heavy minerals fractions from
the center draw-off areas of the
cones to external collection
boxes

The feed pulp of between 5570%

solids
by
weight
is
distributed evenly around the
periphery of the cone;
As it flows towards the center of
the cone the heavy particles
separated to the bottom of the
film;
This concentrate is removed by
an annular slot at the bottom of
the concentrating cone; the part
of the film flowing over the slot
is the tailing

Spirals

Many varied applications in mineral processing; their most

extensive usage has been in the treatment of heavy mineral
san deposits, such as those carrying ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and
monazite;
In recent years, in the recovery of fine coal

Humphreys spiral first commercial application being on chromebearing

sands; it is composed of a helical
conduit of modified
semicircular cross-section

Feed pulp, of between 15-45% solids by

weight and in the size range 3 mm to 75
m, is introduces at the top of the spiral
and, as it flows spirally downwards, the
particles stratify due to the combined
effect of centrifugal, the differential
settling rates of the particles, and the
effect of interstitial trickling through the
flowing particle bed;
Ports for the removal of the higher
specific-gravity particles are located at the
lowest points in the cross-section;
The grade of concentrate taken from
descending ports progressively decreases,
tailings being discharged from the lower
end of the spiral conduit.

The main separation effect is due to hindered settling, with the

largest, densest particles reporting preferentially to the
concentrate, which forms in a band along the inner edge of the
stream (Mills, 1978)

Spirals are made with slopes of varying steepness, the angle

affecting the specific gravity of separation, but having little
effect on the concentrate grade and recover;
Shallow angles are used to separate coal from shale, while
steeper angles are used for normal heavy mineral-silica
separations;
The steepest angles are used to separate heavy minerals from
heavy waste minerals
Example: zircon (SG = 4.7) from kyanite and staurolite (SG = 3.6)