Separation of bitumen from tar sands using sulfur and water

Abstract From the Canadian patent

A relatively low temperature process for separating and recovering bitumen from natural tar sands wherein granular sulfur and water are mixed with the tar sand, in the presence of air, to form a sulfur-bitumen agglomerate whichfloats on the water with relatively bitumen-free sand sinking to the bottom. The agglomerate may be skimmed off the surface of the water and bitumen recovered therefrom by heating the agglomerate to melt the sulfur and then separating the molten sulfur from the hot bitumen. It has unexpectedly been discovered that a yield of over 80% of bitumen can be recovered from the tar sands by the use of sulfur in the process, compared to only about 20% if sulfur is not present.