[2] The Wilfley Table became a design used world-wide due to the fact it significantly increased the recovery of silver, gold and other precious metals.

Pulverised ore, suspended in a water solution, was washed across a sloping riffled vibrating table so that metals separated as they drained off.

Preconcentration may involve any number of methods including jigs, spirals, shaking tables, Knelson concentration, dense media separation, panning and hydroseparation.

It can recover silt to coarse sand-sized heavy minerals for a broad spectrum of commodities including diamonds, precious and base metals, and uranium.

The decks are lined with high coefficient-of-friction materials (linoleum, rubber or plastic), which assists in the mineral recovery process.

[10][11][12] The table is shaken longitudinally, using a slow forward stroke and a rapid return strike that causes particles to migrate or crawl along the deck parallel to the direction of motion.

[6][10][11][12][13][14] Particles move diagonally across the deck from the feed end and separate on the table according to size and density.

Water flow rate, table tilt angle and intensity of the shaking motion must be properly adjusted for effective mineral recovery.

Final concentration takes place in the unriffled region at the end of the deck where the layer of material at this stage is usually only a few particles deep.