The recovery of a concentrate of tin and tungsten from ore mined at Van Roois Vley

Concentration tests using gravity separation, flotation, and magnetic separation showed that it is possible for the high-grade ore mined at Van Roois Vley to be upgraded to a concentrate containing 61 per cent Sn-Wo3 at a recovery of about 80 per cent, and for the low-grade ore to be upgraded to 53 per cent Sn-WO3 at the same recovery. However, it is suggested that, under normal mining conditions and with large-scale mining equipment, less fines would be produced and this should lead to an increase in grade and recovery. Mineralogical examinations showed that intermediate fractions produced by tabling contained very few locked particles, and that the grade of the final concentrate on a full-scale plant would probably be higher than that obtained with laboratory equipment. Molybdenite could be a valuable byproduct, but flotation tests of gravity concentrates for selective recovery of the mineral gave variable results. Flotation tests for the removal of fluorspar from the final concentrate were unsuccessful