Improved process for separating out coal and tailings in a coal mine

摘要

The procedure consists essentially in performing a separation by density of the bulk material extracted from the mine, in which a flotation tank containing a dense medium of controlled density (between 1.35 and 1.60 g/cm3), receives the material to be processed, giving rise to the flotation of the coal, with a mean density of 1.25g/cm3, and the sedimentation of the tailings which have an average density of 2.5 gm/cm3. The floating coal portion is collected from the surface of the tank by mechanical means, is washed with water and drained to give saleable coal. The sedimentary portion (the tailings) is continuously extracted mechanically and sent to the slag heaps. The product used to form the dense medium in the flotation tank is a clay marl obtained together with the coal in the material extracted from the mine. The procedure is used to treat materials extracted from coal fields in the Bajo Segre. IMAGE