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For the more effective processing of the ore

The positive development of the mining operation in the second half of the 19th century required a more effective ore processing. Therefore, the mine management had a highly modern processing plant built between March 1906 and April 1907.
The processing involves separating and sorting the usable excavation goods from the ore. This includes everything that is mined to the surface, i.e., ore and waste rock. Processing also encompasses the necessary crushing of the ore as well as all the devices and facilities that are built or operated for this purpose. In the case of ore processing, a concentrate is obtained, which is further processed in the smelters.

The processing employs mechanical-physical methods by taking advantage of the different properties of the minerals. The mineral metal carriers (ores) usually exhibit sufficiently large weight differences compared to the gangue, making it possible to separate them by specific gravity (density sorting).
The newly constructed plant operated with more or less inclined flat tables. Here, the sorted and crushed rock or ore particles were deposited. A continuous water flow washed away the lighter rock particles, leaving the heavier ore particles behind as so-called ore concentrate.

This effect was further enhanced by subjecting the entire table to vibrations. Such facilities are also referred to as shaking tables. The method of density sorting is also applied to separate polymetallic ores (composed of multiple metal compounds), allowing not only the separation of ore from the gangue but also the various ore constituents from one another. In the case of the Diepenlinchen mine, these were sulfur compounds of the metals lead, zinc, and iron (marcasite, also called fool's gold). The new plant was capable of processing 257 tons of ore per day.

At that time, it was considered one of the most advanced of its kind not only in Germany and was constructed by the "Company Fr. Gröppel, C. Lührigs Nachfolger in Bochum i. W." It should be noted that these highly effective processes could only be achieved through consistent and complex optimization of individual process parameters, i.e., particle size of the processing material, amount and flow rate of the water stream, amplitude and frequency of the vibrations.

To ensure high-quality concentrates, the selection process had to be repeated several times. Of course, the mentioned optimization procedures were also necessary here. The required quantity was achieved by operating several processing lines in parallel.

(Text: Jens Mieckley)