Integral dilute media/plant clean-up sump and pump

In a mineral preparation plant receiving a raw mineral feed and separating the raw mineral feed into a clean mineral and a refuse, an apparatus for retaining dilute media formed as a by-product of the separation process, said apparatus comprising:

• a sump formed in a floor of the mineral preparation plant, the sump configured to receive and retain (a) dilute media from an underpan of at least one of a refuse screen and a clean mineral screen, and (b) mineral, refuse and media particles spilled by mineral processing equipment in the mineral preparation plant, wherein the dilute media comprises finely sized particles of mineral, refuse, media and water;
• a pump feeding the dilute media and the spilled mineral, refuse and media particles received in the sump as a mixture to a media separating device;
• a nuclear density gauge and integrated control system for measuring a specific gravity of the mixture from the pump and adding water to the sump to control slurry density and subsequently the amount of media pumped to the media separating device;
• and
• a water source providing water to the sump via at least one valve, wherein the nuclear density gauge and integrated control system controls at least one valve to add water to the sump based upon the measured specific gravity valve,
• wherein the water is provided to the sump by the water source at a pump suction head within the sump.