Abstract: A mud cleaning system for recovering barite from drilling mud coming from an oil well, the mud being made up essentially of barite particles having a specific gravity of 4.2 or more, and a particle size mostly finer than 200 mesh, drill cuttings having a specific gravity of 2-3, and varying particle sizes ranging from about 200 mesh to 1/2 inch or more, and water. This system includes a first sieve bend (32), a second screen member (10) in series therewith, and a spiral separator (54), in series with the screens. The sieve bend is provided with a vibrator (18, 20), and water sprays (16, 34) act in conjunction with the sieve bend and the second screen to aid in the separation. The slurry leaving the spiral separator is screened to remove the ultra fine particles and the water is recycled. The system inherently washes potentially environmentally hazardous substances off the drill cuttings prior to their discharge from the system.