Spiral separators have been used to treat heavy mineral sands in Australia for some 35 years. During the last five years the logical extension of this technology has been to recover cassiterite from alluvial deposits. Plants incorporating spirals are already operating in Indonesian and Australian tin mines. A more fundamental understanding of the design of spiral separators has recently led to their use in other mineral treatment plants._x000D_
In particular, the treatment of alluvial gold and fine coal has been most successful. The new generation of spirals that has been developed to treat these minerals is more easily operated than other competing processes and is therefore ideal for new mine situations.