| abstract |
A process is provided for recovering heavy minerals from aqueous oil sand tailings, the oil sand tailings having heavy minerals, other coarse solids such as silica, fines, residual bitumen and water, including desliming the oil sand tailings in a desliming means by removing a portion of free fines and residual bitumen from the oil sand tailings; attritioning the oil sand tailings in an attritioner to remove adhered fines and residual bitumen from the heavy minerals and other coarse solids; and subjecting the deslimed and attritioned tailings to separation in a separation means to separate the heavy minerals from the other coarse solids present in the deslimed and attritioned tailings and produce a concentrated heavy minerals fraction. |