Technology
Magnetic Elutriation – Clean Processing of Iron Ore
Magnetic ElutriationTM is a high-performance, clean, innovative mining technology.
Patented by the company founder, the environmentally friendly process allows a means to better economically upgrade the low-grade, magnetic iron ores that are found throughout the world. The Magnetic ElutriatorTM offers mining operations a new path to chemical-free, high-volume, beneficiation; this technology is ideally suited for mines that run low-grade iron ores thru their mineral processing operations. Key to the success of this design is the use of high-powered AC magnets which provide an engineered & pulsed magnetic field that acts to aggressively agitate the iron ore which in turn serves to efficiently remove tailings (sand & clay) without the need for chemical dispersants.
5R has explored the concept in detail - designing & building 1, 10, and 100 ton-per-hour systems with assistance from both state and federal government R&D grant awards as seed money. To date the 1 TPH and 10 TPH systems have proved exceptional performance in continuous-duty at four separate mining operations in the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota. Sought is an industrial partner willing to underwrite the installation and in-plant testing of a full-scale system known as the M100, a magnetic elutriation system rated at 100 tons-per-hours, equivalent to 1 million tons-per-year.
The Magnetic ElutriatorTM operates on the principle known as "elutriation." Conventional elutriators are sometimes referred as "hydraulic classifiers" and are common in the mining and gravel industries. Throughout the world elutriators clean millions of tons of ores, sand, aggregate, etc. using moving water to flush away impurities; the technology is as old as metallurgy itself. The magnetic elutriator is an evolution of this thousand-year-old technology.