GEMSTONE RECOVERY BY MINERAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

摘要

The extraction of gemstones, except for diamonds,continues to be a more or less handpicking type operationall over the world. However, considering the physicalproperties of gemstones such as density (sp.gr.), color,size, shape, luster, brilliance, reflection of light and thelike in contrast to the relatively ?dull? physicalcharacterization of the associated gangue minerals, itshould be feasible to recover several gemstones usingmodern mineral processing techniques.This paper illustrates the unique physicalcharacterization of several gemstones and suggestsappropriate mineral processing techniques that could beused to recover these precious stones. Special emphasis isplaced on the versatility of the Heavy Media Separation(HMS) process for processing of the gemstones.Finally, a few examples of commercially viableoperations involved in the recovery of emeralds andrubies are presented.