Settler for Decanting Mineral Slurries & Method for Separating Clarified Liquid from Thickened Slurry of Said Mineral Slurries

A method for separating a clarified liquid from a thickened slurry of a mineral slurry, that includes settling a fresh slurry in a settler which comprises:

• introducing said fresh slurry into a body of slurry in a tank provided with a stirrer rotating or reciprocating about a generally vertical axis to form the thickened slurry as a lower layer and the clarified liquid as an upper layer, said fresh slurry being introduced into said body of slurry through an opening of a slurry inlet means,
• removing thickened slurry from an outlet at a bottom of the tank, and
• removing the clarified liquid adjacent to a top of the tank from a first overflow outlet,
• characterized in that said fresh slurry is mixed using mixing means in said slurry inlet means, and is introduced into the tank through said opening at a position spaced laterally from said generally vertical axis of the stirrer.

A settler for decanting mineral slurries, comprising

• a tank for holding and decanting a body of slurry to form a thickened slurry as a lower layer and a clarified liquid as an upper layer, the tank having a side wall a bottom and a top,
• an outlet for the thickened slurry at the bottom of the tank,
• a first overflow outlet for withdrawing an overflow stream of the clarified liquid,
• a slurry inlet near the top of the tank for introducing fresh slurry into the tank, the slurry inlet having a slurry opening through which the fresh slurry joins the body of slurry in the tank, and
• a stirrer having a generally vertical axis around which the stirrer rotates or reciprocates,
• characterized in that said slurry opening is displaced laterally relative to said generally vertical axis of the stirrer and said slurry inlet comprises a mixer.