Does calcite content affect its separation from celestite by Falcon concentrator?

Calcite is the main gangue mineral in the most of celestite ores. The interlocking between two minerals (i.e., calcite and celestite) differs according to their formation conditions. Such interlocking implies fine grinding to achieve a good liberation and thus use physical separation techniques. As fine grinding is needed, then the recovery of fine particles becomes a challenge. However, the enhanced gravity concentrators are one of the recent developments that offer solutions for the separation by gravity at fine size ranges. Falcon device is a famous example of such concentrators. In this study, the upgrading of fine celestite ore (-80 mu m) was tested using Falcon device in terms of bowl speed and fluidization water pressure. In addition, the role of calcite content in the ore was investigated using design of experiments under different conditions of centrifugal speed, fluidization water pressure, and calcite content. Thus, pure samples of celestite and calcite were used to prepare mixtures at different celestite to calcite ratios to simulate the most of celestite ores. The results showed that the calcite content plays a significant role especially at low centrifugal speed and fluidization water pressure where the best results can be achieved. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.