Closed loop solvent extraction process for oil sands

A method for extracting bitumen from an oil sand, the method comprising:

• reducing the size of an oil sand feed to produce a size-reduced oil sand feed;
• adding to the size-reduced oil sand feed to form a slurry a solvent, wherein the solvent is a C3 to C9 paraffinic solvent, or a mixture thereof;
• feeding the slurry to a separation device;
• allowing the slurry to be separated into a solvent-diluted bitumen and an underflow containing between 60 and 85 percent by weight solids;
• feeding the underflow to a filtration unit;
• introducing solvent vapor above the filter bed of the filtration unit:
• recovering a filtrate from the filtration unit;
• recovering the solids from the filtration unit;
• and
• recovering solvent from the solids from the filtration unit by drying the solids wherein produce dry tailings are produced.