AbstractsEarth & Environmental Science

"In the concentration of an ore by means of concentrating tables, there is a critical point in sizing beyond which the valuable minerals can not be recovered. Theoretically, the lighter gangue is washed over the side of' the table and the heavier mineral, regardless of size, is recoverable at the end, these concentrates being graded from coarse to fine sizes up the slope of the table. In practice, however, the finer sizes of concentrates are found mixed with the middlings and tailings, as indicated by the arrows on the diagram of the concentrating table shown below. The problem is to determine the critical sizes where the divisions occur, or in other words, the finest size of the valuable mineral which it is possible to recover in table concentration" – p. 1.