Apparatus for hydraulically raising ore and other materials

Claim 1

Apparatus for hydraulically raising ore and other materials, comprising riser conduit means including a lower riser conduit portion having a lower end for picking up material from the bottom of the sea, and an upper riser conduit portion having an upper end located at the surface level of the sea; flushing pump means positioned for pumping clear water; and a distributing station between said lower and upper riser conduit portions including a plurality of vertical conduit-shaped containers having substantially the same diameter as said riser conduit portions, main pump means, connecting conduit means including a plurality of lower connecting conduits connecting the upper end of said lower riser conduit portion with the lower ends of said conduit-shaped containers, with the inlet of said main pump meAns, and with the outlet of said flushing pump means, a plurality of upper connecting conduits connecting the lower end of said upper riser conduit portion with the upper ends of said containers, said connecting conduits having substantially said diameter, and control means including control valve means in said connecting conduits, cyclically operable for effecting exhaustion of clear flushing water from said flushing pump means by said main pump means out of one of said conduit-shaped containers for producing a pressure differential between said lower end of said upper riser conduit portion and said one container for raising a mixture of material and water in said lower riser conduit portion and into said one container while effecting flushing of said mixture from another container by said flushing pump means into said upper riser conduit portion and out of said upper end thereof so that said main pump means and flushing pump means transport no material but only clear water without accumulation of the material in said conduit-shaped containers.