PURPOSE: To make fine segregation according to the nature which can appear differently, enhance the degree of segregating and refining, and also introduce automation by making discrimination and separation of mineral sorts on the basis of features on chemical composition or optical features obtained by a sensor part.

CONSTITUTION: Granular minerals 2 obtained by crushing rocks and/or ores are put in a hopper 10 fully, supplied little by little to a mineral feeding device of vibrative type 11, and fed to the inlet of a selecting chamber 3 continuously one grain after another. The minerals 2 fall into this selecting chamber 3 one after another and pass in front of a sensor part 4, which grasps the features on chemical composition or optical features of each sort of mineral, and on the basis of this data obtained, a data processing/judging part 6 judges which sort of mineral it is. On the basis of the result from judgement, the minerals 2 are separated by a separator 20 of a separation part 5, distributed sort by sort to passages 3a, 3b, and accommodated in a mineral receptacle 13. Thus minerals having different features are segregated, and the degree of separateness and refinement can be enhanced.