John Kepper

Abstract

The flat-washing platforms, prominent in the processing of silver-lead ores at Laurium, Greece in the 4th century BC, were probably not designed to work with sluices as proposed by Conophagos (1980). Rather, the stand tank at the rear of the platform was a primary settling basin and the ancillary system of channels and settling basins served as a staged operation to collect concentrate throughout a closed circuit. A hindered-settling model is proposed for the effective separation of lead minerals from the gangue. Ceramic bowls were used in a vanning process to evaluate the degree of liberation and separation of lead minerals at the ore-processing workshops.

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References
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How to Cite
A hindered-settling model applied to the flatwashing platforms at Laurium, Greece. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 38(2), 75-83. https://hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/245
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