Patent ID: 8349188

Claim:
A method of removing particulate matter from a waste tailing fluid, comprising: providing an activating material capable of being affixed to the particulate matter wherein the activating material is an anionic or a cationic polymer; affixing the activating material to the particulate matter to form activated particles in the fluid; providing anchor particles and providing a tethering material capable of being affixed to the anchor particles, wherein the tethering material is a cationic or an anionic polymer; attaching the tethering material to the anchor particles to form tether-bearing activated particles and adding the tether-bearing anchor particles to the fluid, wherein the tethering material attaches to the activated particles to form removable complexes in the fluid; and removing the removable complexes from the fluid, thereby removing the particulate matter from the waste tailing fluid; wherein the fluid is a waste tailing fluid derived from energy production or a mining process; and when the activating material is an anionic polymer, the tethering material is a cationic polymer and when the activating material is a cationic polymer, the tethering material is an anionic polymer; and the anchor particles are larger than the particulate matter.