ABSTRACT
Electrical separation is a physical separation of particles based on the electrical properties of the mineral particles. Electrostatic and Electrodynamic separation processes utilize the difference in electrical conductivity between various minerals in the ore feed whereas dielectric separation utilizes the differences in dielectric constant of mineral particles. The atom consists of a nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. Conductors are materials which permit electrons to flow freely from atom to atom and molecule to molecule. If an ore contains conducting as well as non-conducting minerals/particles, electrostatic separation or high tension separation can be employed. In charging by ion bombardment, corona discharge is obtained by appropriate shaping of the electrodes. In Dielectric separation, ore consists of minerals of various dielectric constants is suspended in a non-conducting fluid whose dielectric constant is intermediate between that of two groups of minerals and a converging electric field is set up within the suspension.
