Shake Down, Take Down, They're Busted! Screens That Remove Rock Particles By Size

Industrial & Manufacturing Blog

Creating multiple sizes and grains of rock and sand in a mining operation is tricky. On the one hand it might not matter if you succeed in this task, but on the other hand you could actually sell the rocks, pebbles, dirt, and grains of sand. If you are mining for precious metals, you also run the risk of missing smaller bits of gold, silver, or copper. That is money lost. If you want to be sure you are getting everything you want to keep out of your mine, PLUS make some extra money on the side, here is how to do it.

Using Vibration Sorters

The old miners panning for gold would have loved a vibration sorter. These machines are loaded with rock through the top, vibrate to separate rocks of various sizes and particles, and shake down everything into its own separate trays. Then you take down the trays, examine visually what is in them, and dump anything you do not remove into a bin. The trays all utilize wire mesh screens of various hole sizes, so it is very easy to sort everything and spot anything valuable that you want to extract.

Busting Rock That May Have a Vein

Sometimes, after the vibration sorters have shaken down everything, you may spot a rock with a gleam of something valuable. You can remove this rock and bust it open to be sure the rock does not have a vein. Then you can either extract that precious metal, or chuck the worthless rock into the designated bin.

Extra-Fine Sifting

Grains of gold are easily missed in sand. That is why you should always resift the sand that drops onto the sand tray in your sorter. The sand is placed in a larger tray, and individual loose trays with extra-fine wire mesh will help you find the missed grains of gold (or whatever other valuable metal has tiny grains). This process is repeated several times just to be sure that the sand sifted out is just that-sand.

Selling the Bins of Worthless Rock, Dirt, and Sand

It is easy enough to sell bins of seemingly worthless rock, dirt and sand. Most landscapers find these products valuable. There are companies that bag dirt and sand for homeowners to use too. There is always a use for everything you pull out of a mine and shake down in a vibration sorter, which always equals extra money for the job you do. For more information about aggregate separation, visit Midwestern Industries Inc.   

25 January 2018