DMS Pilot Test Work
Dense Media Separation Pilot Plant
Dense Media Separation Pilot Plant separates minerals based on density/specific gravity, including lead, zinc, tin, tungsten, copper, gold and more. Dense Media Separation is becoming an increasingly popular method of mineral beneficiation that utilizes a dense medium to separate minerals based on specific gravity (SG). DMS is typically used in a pre-concentration duty prior to processing or milling to reject barren material and reduce downstream CAPEX and OPEX costs. Clients aiming to reduce plant costs can benefit greatly from a DMS plant in their operation.
Sepro Labs offers both pilot-scale DMS testing and bench-scale heavy liquid testing to provide a wide range of custom solutions for our clients. Our bench-scale program allows for testing of particles as small as 1 mm, with a medium SG up to 3.0 using a safe heavy liquid solution. Bench-scale testing is a quick method to determine ideal SG separation points for a given ore prior to pilot-scale testing.
Once the SG separation points are determined, the Sepro Labs DMS pilot plant program is ideal for bulk testing and simulating the actual production recoveries and grades for a project. Sepro Labs operates a modified Sepro Condor DMS that has the ability to separate based on SG values of 2.0 to 3.5. The Condor DMS can use either a ferrosilicon-based medium for higher density mineral separation, or a magnetite-based medium for coal applications.
What We Do
Before any pilot-scale testing takes place, our team performs bench-scale heavy liquid separation testing to determine if the client’s sample is amenable to the DMS process as well as the optimal specific gravity (SG) cut points for a given sample. Once this has been successfully determined, both water and the heavy media (ferrosilicon) are added to the DMS plant. A Marcy cup is then used on the slurry to determine the SG of the mixture.
A set of 8 mm coloured tracer cubes are fed to the DMS plant in order to measure the SG cut points as the plant is running. Also known as the D50, the “cut point” refers to the specific gravity at which particles have a 50% chance of moving to the sinks or the floats of the plant. Each colour of cube has a different SG, and as the tracers pass through the DMS system, the heavier tracer cubes will move to the sinks while the lighter ones will move to the floats. The tracers are then removed from the sieves at the plant output, washed, and counted by colour to determine the effective SG cut point of the plant.
Depending on the results of the tracer test, our team will make adjustments to the dense medium until the desired SG cut point is reached by adjusting the slurry (through adding water or ferrosilicon media) and rerunning tracer tests. Once the desired gravity cut point (as determined by previous bench-scale heavy liquid testing) is reached, our team will manually add your sample to the DMS plant and run it through the system. After, the sample is then separated into sink and float products on opposite sides of the screen deck. The sink and float products are screened and rinsed to remove any remaining dense media. During this process, our team will be performing visual spot checks to ensure the proper separation of the DMS product.
For pilot-scale dense media separation plant testing, we require a minimum sample weight of above 50 kg. Sample weights can vary significantly between tests, and our pilot-scale tests can handle samples that weigh well over a tonne! Choosing the right sample weight really depends on your project objectives as well as other considerations such as downstream processes. If you are interested in our pilot-scale DMS plant tests, be sure to reach out to our mineral laboratory. We would be happy to walk you through selecting sample sizes, altering tests to meet your project objectives and more.
- Metals, oxides and sulphides
- Antimony
- Bauxite
- Chromite
- Copper
- Gold
- Iron
- Lead
- Lithium
- Manganese
- Nickel
- Tin
- Zinc
- Industrial minerals and silicates
- Barites
- Coal
- Diamond
- Feldspar
- Fluorspar
- Hematite
- Limestone
- Phosphate
- Potash
- Quartz
- Petalite
- Spodumene
Related Links
Dense Media Separation Brochure
DMS is typically used in a pre-concentration duty prior to processing or milling to reject barren material and reduce downstream CAPEX and OPEX costs.
About Sepro Labs Brochure
Sepro Laboratories, formerly known as Met-Solve Laboratories Inc., is an extractive metallurgical testing facility founded in 2007.
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