A Study to Recover Coal from Turkish Lignite Fine Coal Tailings: Comparison of Falcon Concentrator and Multi Gravity Separator (MGS) M. Fatih CAN, Selçuk ÖZGEN, Eyüp SABAH * , Department of Mining Engineering, Afyon Kocatepe University, 03200 Afyonkarahisar, Turkey ABSTRACT Lignite coal is the primary domestic source of energy in Turkey, for this reason effective exploitation of the reserves of Turkey is very crucial. In Turkey the fine tailings of lignite coal processing plants are sent in most cases to the tailing ponds without any treatment. However, recovery of fine coals from coal preparation tailings and recycle of processing water are of both economic and environmental incentives, not only preserving natural resources but also reducing environmental consequences of discharging large volume of tailings. Recent developments in the use of various gravity equipments in fine-coal beneficiation have been discussed and their relative merits have been compared. In this study, the possibility of beneficiation of lignite tailings included quartz, kaolinite, siderite, mica/illite, dolomite, feldspar compounds in the Tunçbilek/Kütahya region was investigated by Multi Gravity Separator (MGS) and Falcon Concentrator and these two methods compared. The entire exercise revealed that the MGS could produce a clean coal with an ash content of 22.83%, 5696 kCal/kg calorific value and a recovery of 49.32% and that the Falcon could produce a clean coal with an ash content of 40.26%, 4224 kCal/kg calorific value and a recovery of 64.53% from a feed coal having an ash content of 66.21% and 1835 kCal/kg calorific value. Key words: Fine lignite coal tailings, Waste processing, Hydrocyclone, Falcon Concentrator, Multi Gravity Separator (MGS)