Process for recovering bitumen from tar sand

Oil sand is mixed with steam and water in a tumbler to produce a slurry. The slurry is then transferred to the immersed portion of an apertured inclined surface in a water bath. The inclined surface may be in the form of a rotating drum, a tilted rotating dish or an inclined moving endless conveyor belt. The sand particles drop through the apertures and are collected from the base of the bath and discarded. The bitumen moves to the submerged portion of the oleophilic inclined surface and attempts to pass through the apertures; it touches the surface and adheres thereto. The adhering bitumen is collected when the coated surface emerges from the slurry. The process gives a good recovery of a bitumen product which has acceptable quantities of solid and water contamination. The temperature of separation, the need for reagents, and water requirements are reduced in comparison to the prior art. The process can generally be used for separating oleophilic materials from hydrophilic materials.