Wet belt conveyor

A conveyor for use in a mine to convey a slurry of water and heavy aggregate over runs of long distance within the mine and of insufficient grade to enable effective gravity flow within a fixed flume, said conveyor comprising a flume trough having upstream and downstream ends and a generally flat lower surface, said trough extending over the length of said run at substantially the same downward slope as said run;

• a continuous belt conveyor having a lower reach supported on the lower surface of the trough and extending over the length of the trough, end portions extending upwardly from the lower surface of the trough, and an upper reach supported on said trough in spaced relationship to the lower surface thereof;
• means at the upstream end of the flume trough to load a slurry into the trough and onto the lower reach of the belt within the trough;
• means at the downstream end of the trough to remove slurry from the trough in response to movement of the slurry toward the downstream end;
• and means to drive the belt conveyor to continuously move the lower reach and any aggregate supported thereon from the upstream end to the downstream end of the trough whereby heavy aggregate which settles out of the slurry is carried by the lower reach of the belt conveyor, while water and suspended aggregate is conveyed in the trough through the influence of gravity and the movement of the lower reach conveyor belt and aggregate supported thereon.