Teeter bed separators are widely used in different mineral and coal industries for separation at different stages. The teeter bed separator works based on the principles of fluidization and hindered settling. However, the published literature on this separator doesn't demonstrate its use in the separation of mineral fines. In the present article, an attempt has been made to characterize the teeter bed separator (Floatex Density Separator) with respect to its performance at different conditions of operating variables, while treating manganese fines. Also regression models were developed based on statistical design of experiments to quantify the effect of key operating variables on the performance of the separator. The characterization of teeter bed inside the floatex density separator was also analyzed to identify the particle separation behavior while treating manganese fines. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.