Process for separating high viscosity bitumen from tar sands

A novel process for separating high viscosity bitumen from tar sand. The process includes grinding the tar sand to obtain phase disengagement of the bitumen phase from the sand phase and thereafter using flotation techniques to obtain phase separation of the bitumen phase from the sand phase. Phase disengagement is assisted by using a suitable wetting agent such as sodium carbonate or sodium silicate during the grinding step, while the phase separation step is assisted by the inclusion of a promoter oil for the flotation step.