Patent ID: 8372290

Claim:
A process for separating at least one first material from first mixture comprising the at least one first material and at least one second material, the method comprising: (A) contacting the first mixture comprising the at least one first material and the at least one second material with at least one first surface-active substance, optionally in the presence of at least one dispersion medium, with the first surface-active substance binding to the at least one first material, to obtain a second mixture; (B) optionally, adding at least one dispersion medium to the second mixture obtained in (A), in order to obtain a first dispersion; (C) treating the second mixture from (A) or the first dispersion from (B) with at least one hydrophobic magnetic particle so that the at least one first material to which the at least one first surface-active substance is bound and the at least one magnetic particle agglomerate, to obtain an first agglomerate; (D) separating the first agglomerate from (C) from the second mixture or the first dispersion by application of a magnetic field, in order to obtain a separated agglomerate and a third mixture, M1, depleted in agglomerate; (E) contacting the third mixture, M1, from (D) with at least one second surface-active substance, with the second surface-active substance binding to the at least one first material which is still present in the mixture, M1, from (D) to obtain a second dispersion; (F) treating the second dispersion from (E) with at least one hydrophobic magnetic particle so that the at least one first material to which the at least one second surface-active substance is bound and the at least one magnetic particle agglomerate, to form a second agglomerate; (G) separating the second agglomerate from (F) from the second dispersion by application of a magnetic field in order to obtain the second agglomerate and a fourth mixture, M2, depleted in agglomerate; and (H) optionally, repeating (E) to (G).