Gravity concentration, one of the oldest mineral beneficiation processes, has evolved over the decades and continues to play an important role in modern mineral processing operations. Sepro Labs has a wide variety of gravity concentration testing options available such as centrifugal units, spirals, shaking tables and analytical tables, though in particular advanced centrifugal gravity concentration technology remains a specialty. 

While the traditional low-mass yield technology continues to be successful for high density precious minerals such as gold, clients are increasingly looking to continuous and ultrafine centrifugal concentration as a means of optimizing processing plants and increasing production. 

Benefits

  • Lowest operation and installation costs compared to other beneficiation technologies.
  • Low environmental impact – no reagent requirements.
  • Can easily generate saleable concentrates and provide a quick cash flow with gold and precious metal applications.
  • Provides versatility for treating a wide particle size range: jigs, spirals target coarse particle sizes while centrifugal concentrators can recover much finer particle sizes.
  • Advancements in centrifugal technology allow for recovery of particles previously lost to tailings, such as ultrafine (<50 micron) particles.
  • During the exploration phase gravity concentration can help define a more accurate grade when there is a nugget effect with a given ore.

Expertise

The Sepro Labs team is lead by Ish Grewal, one of the world’s leading gravity concentration experts, and continues to remain on the cutting edge of gravity concentration technology. In particular, centrifugal gravity concentration technologies continue to advance and Sepro Labs is currently in the process of establishing laboratory testing procedures that more accurately determine potential full-scale recoveries for ultrafine and continuous gravity concentration units. In addition to the consistent and repeatable industry-standard gravity concentration test programs, Sepro Labs offers a unique service: mathematical modelling of gravity circuits. Based on real-world results and research, Sepro Labs can accurately predict the recoveries within a standard gravity and comminution circuit using the data from gravity recoverable gold test programs.

Test Details

Test NameMinimum Sample SizeDetails
Basic GRG10 kg3 pass test + basic analysis
Detailed GRG20 kg3 pass test + particle size analysis, report, modeling
Includes assay by size fraction of cons, tails
Bulk Gravity Assay10 x 5 kg2 pass test – see Bulk Gravity Assay brochure
Metallurgical Scoping Program50 kgSee Metallurgical Scoping Program brochure
MAT Table5 kgCustomized to project – see Lab Equipment
Dense Media Separation100 kgSee Dense Media Separation

Applications

Standard Gravity Applications:
Gold, silver and platinum group metals
Gold from cyclone feed, underflow or overflow within a grinding circuit
Gold in alluvial gold operations
Gold from aggregate plants
Continuous Gravity Applications:
Tin
Tantalum
Tungsten
Chromium
Cobalt
Ultrafine Gravity Applications:
Ultrafine tin slimes
Ultrafine tantalum slimes
Ultrafine tungsten slimes
Scavenging from deslime cyclone overflow
High recovery upgrade of fine flotation concentrates