Extraction of particulate materials

There is disclosed a method of extracting components from particulate materials, for example, from ground seed particles fed from a mill 2. The method includes the steps of mixing the particles with a polar solvent from a feed line 14 in a mixing zone 16 to provide a slurry. The slurry is then passed through an extraction zone 22. A non-polar solvent from a feed line 24 is passed countercurrently to the slurry through the extraction zone 22. The non-polar solvent has a different density from the polar solvent and is substantially immiscible with the polar solvent. The non-polar solvent with non-polar components dissolved therein is separated into a non-polar solvent fraction 32 and an oil fraction 34 in a solvent recovery unit 28. The polar solvent with dissolved components therein and the entrained particles leave the extraction zone 22 and the solid particles are separated in a separation zone 35. This process is particularly beneficial for use in the extraction of ground oil-seed particles.