Centrifugal high gradient magnetic separation (CHGMS) operates through a rotating matrix in a magnetic field, so that its separation performance is closely related to the coupling of magnetic field and rotating magnetic wires of the matrix. In this work, the capture characteristics of magnetic wires rotating at two different patterns, i.e., revolving around the center of separating cylinder and spinning around the axis of wire in a given uniform magnetic field, were comparatively described; and using a capture set-up, they were experimentally verified by their actual magnetic capture to ilmenite particles from a primary ilmenite concentrate assaying 13.04% TiO2. It was found that the centrifugal force and hydrodynamic drag acting onto the particles of the spinning wire, as well as the required magnetic force to the particles for effective magnetic capture, is much smaller than that of the revolving wire. According to the COMSOL Multiphysics simulation, there is a large velocity gradient between the slurry around the rotating wire and the separating cylinder, producing a fluid shearing stress to particles in the slurry and thus improving the loose state of the slurry around the wire; in addition, the effect of wire spinning on the motion trajectories of particles is much weaker than that of the revolving one. The capture experiments indicated that the rotating pattern of wire has a significant effect on the capture characteristics; specifically, the spinning wire obtained a much higher mass weight for ilmenite particles but a similar capture selectivity, in comparison with the revolving wire. For instance, when the rotation of 6 mm diameter wire was transformed from revolution to spinning at the same rotation speed of 120 r/min, the mass weight of ilmenite particles captured onto the wire was significantly increased from 1.1 g/cm to 2.0 g/cm, while their TiO2 grades reached 27.12% and 26.25%, respectively. It was concluded that the high capture selectivity of the rotating wire to ilmenite particles is primarily attributed to the effect of loosing particles in the fluid, as it facilitates the release of nonmagnetic particles from the magnetic deposits captured on the wire surface. This investigation provides a valuable reference for the determination of matrix rotation pattern in the development of CHGMS technology. (c) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.