SEPARATION OF MAGNETIC AND NON-MAGNETIC MATERIALS FROM KAMPUNG MUBRAIDIBA BEACH SAND USING A PROTOTYPE MAGNETIC SEPARATOR

Abstract

This study is undertaken in response to the potential of beach sand in the coastal area of North Manokwari, West Papua, which contains magnetic materials; however, its utilization remains limited due to the lack of simple and applicable separation technologies. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a prototype magnetic separator and to analyze the effect of belt speed variations on recovery and enrichment ratio (ER). The research employed a laboratory-based experimental method with a quantitative approach, using sand samples collected from Mubraidiba Village. Experiments were conducted at four belt speed variations (25.57, 38.22, 63.11, and 82.37 m/min), each performed in triplicate. The results indicate that belt speed significantly influences separation performance. The highest recovery (97.04%) was achieved at 25.57 m/min, while increasing belt speed reduced recovery to an average of 18.76% at the highest speed. Conversely, the ER increased with increasing belt speed, indicating an inverse relationship between recovery and concentrate grade. These findings demonstrate that belt speed is a critical operational parameter that should be adjusted according to processing objectives. Furthermore, the developed prototype exhibits promising performance as a simple and practical alternative for magnetic separation technology.