Magnetic fluid separation of gold-containing products in the vibration field

Abstract

New data on the process of the magnetic fluid (MF) separation, which is based on the ponderomotive effect of the magnetized separation medium—or ferromagnetic fluid (FMF) on the nonmagnetic bodies arranged in it—are obtained. The magnetization of the FMF in a nonuniform magnetic field increases the strength of the field of mass forces affecting the FMF and, as a consequence, the pressure gradient in the FMF. This phenomenon can be considered pseudoweighting of the FMF and, when controlling the magnetic field force, it can be used to separate nonmagnetic materials according to their specific weights. The behavior of the FMF in the vibration field is investigated theoretically, and the dependence of energy absorbed by it on the amplitude and frequency of vibrations is revealed. Under industrial conditions, a series of tests on separation of free gold from the products of washing the goldfields by the method of MF separation is performed. The results of these tests prove the prospects of including secondary Au-containing resources with difficult-to-recover gold in processing.