Patent ID: 7722759
Filing Date: 2010-05-25
Classification: C10G

Abstract:
1. An apparatus to separate minerals from mineral feedstock, the apparatus comprising: a staged mineral separator comprising a plurality of walls and a rotatable cylinder, the plurality of walls comprising turns of helicoid flighting coupled to an interior wall of the rotatable cylinder such that the plurality of walls, and the rotatable cylinder define at least two fluid isolation residence chambers, the separator configured to receive a mineral feedstock; a first stage within the separator that adds solvent to the residence chambers to create a first solvent-mineral feedstock slurry, maintains the solvent contact for a first specified time period, and drains the liquid portion of the slurry from the residence chambers to create a first drained mineral feedstock stream and a first stage miscella stream; a final stage within the separator that adds the solvent to the residence chambers to create a final solvent-mineral feedstock slurry, maintains the solvent contact for a final specified time period, rinses the slurry by adding solvent while draining the liquid portion of the slurry from the residence chambers, then continues to drain the liquid portion of the slurry from the residence chambers to create a final drained mineral feedstock stream and a final stage miscella stream; a transition module configured to control the rate each residence chamber travels through the stages of the staged mineral separator; and a solvent stripper configured to strip solvent from the final drained mineral feedstock stream to create a cleaned mineral feedstock stream.