The sand dunes are mined in layers.

Bucketwheel excavators place the sand...

... on shiftable conveyors.

The conveyors discharge onto a main trunk conveyor which feeds a stockpile
from which the sand is fed into the concentration plant.

Magnetic separators remove the titanomagnetite which accounts for about 20%
of the sand, but some low grade sand is also trapped.

This is removed by gravity in cone concentrators and spiral separators.
Sand and water flow over the surface of the cone and the heavier iron
minerals sink to the bottom and pass through the slots in the cone.

A series of cones and spiral separators remove most of the light minerals.

The ironsand is stockpiled prior to being pumped as a slurry through
a pipeline to the Glenbrook steelmill.

Ironsand concentrate stockpile with storage pond in foreground.

The nonmagnetic sands which are not required are returned to the mining area.

The area is replanted with marram grass. The person in the picture is
holding a pine seedling which has just been planted.

Water used in the process is recycled. Pine plantation on rehabilitated
land can be seen in the background.

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[ironsands]
[JAGO]
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