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Correlations of Bond and Breakage Parameters of Some Ores with the

Corresponding Point Load Index

Article  in  Particle and Particle Systems Characterization · August 2012

DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.201100019

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204
Correlations of Bond and Breakage Parameters of Some Ores
with the Corresponding Point Load Index
Ali Aras*, Alper Ozkan*, Salih Aydogan*
(Received: 14 April 2011; in revised form: 23 May 2012; accepted: 23 May 2012)
DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.201100019
Abstract
This paper presents significant correlations of the Bond
parameter (work index, Wi and grindability, G) and the
breakage parameters (specific rate of breakage, Si and
the fineness value, c) with the point load index (Is(50)).
The experimental results obtained from calcite, barite,
colemanite and bauxite samples have demonstrated that
Keywords: bond work index, grindability, point load index, specific rate of breakage
1 Introduction
Breaking and especially grinding are important pro-
cesses which increase costs in mineral processing. In
fact, a very little amount of the energy that is consumed
in comminution can be used effectively and a large
amount of energy is wasted in various ways (noise, heat,
etc.). As known, grinding processes consume approxi-
mately half of the energy used in production in mineral
processing plants. In addition, the wear costs of the steel
media used in grinding processes are also very impor-
tant. Comminution is applied to liberate valuable miner-
als from gangue and obtain the required surface area
and particle size in the enrichment process and indus-
trial applications. Production of an excessive amount of
fine material will both increase the grinding cost and
prevent obtaining the required product.
The resistance shown to the grinding process and energy
consumption can be determined using the work index.
The Bond method is widely used in design of grinding
circuits, selection of comminution equipment, determi-
nation of the power requirement and performance eva-
* Dr. A. Aras (corresponding author), Dr. A. Ozkan, Dr. S. Ay-
dogan, Selcuk University, Department of Mining Engineer-
ing, 42075 Konya (Turkey).
E-mail: aliaras@selcuk.edu.tr
wileyonlinelibrary.com http://www.ppsc-journal.com
Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 29 (2012) 204–210
the Bond and breakage parameters were closely corre-
lated with the point load index. That is, the values of G,
Si and aT parameters decreased with the increase in the
values of the point load index; however, the c parameter
of Bi,j increased with increasing Is(50) values.
luation [1]. Because of the several disadvantages, such
as its long duration, its tiresomeness, and its requirement
of a special mill, various methods were suggested to
obtain the Bond parameters easily [2 – 7]. These meth-
ods require either a Bond mill or a laboratory mill.
The kinetics of grinding in ball mills can be analyzed
using two major models: the energy-size relationship
and the population-balance models. To describe the evo-
lution of the entire size distribution with time in batch
grinding, the population-balance model uses two pri-
mary kinetic functions; these are the breakage-rate func-
tion and the breakage-distribution function [1, 8].
The behaviour of rock material and rock mass is investi-
gated by rock mechanics. The index tests are simple
methods in rock mechanics, which are used to character-
ize the rocks. The point load strength test is one of the
index tests. The test apparatus is portable and can be
applied either in the field or in the laboratory. The rock
specimens can be in the form of a core, block, or irregu-
lar. The point load strength index (Is(50)) is determined
by compressing the rock specimens between two stan-
dard conical platens. The strength is calculated using the
load and the distance between the platens at failure [9].
The existence of a relationship between the mechanical
strength and the grinding-breakage properties of rocks
may be expected. If this relationship can be determined,
the estimation of the work index and breakage charac-
© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 29 (2012) 204–210 205

teristics of materials from strength properties will be Table 1: Ball mill properties and grinding conditions.
very important. Mill Inner diameter, mm 200
A few studies [10 – 14] were generally aimed at deter- Length, mm 191
mining the relations between mechanical properties and Volume, cm3 6000
grindability-Bond work index values using several rocks. Critical speed, rpm 101.1
This study attempted to correlate the Bond and break- Operational speed, rpm 76
age parameters of similar brittle rocks with the point Media Material alloy steel
load strength index. For this purpose, Is(50), Si, aT, c, G (Balls) Diameter, mm 25
Number 92
and Wi values were determined and some significant
Specific gravity, g/cm3 7.8
correlations among these parameters were established. Fractional ball filling 0.2
Sample Specific gravity, Weight,
g/cm3 g
2 Materials and Methods Calcite 2.70 388.8
Barite 4.35 626.4
In the experimental studies, calcite (Mugla), barite Colemanite 2.42 348.48
Bauxite 3.00 432
(Huyuk), colemanite (Bigadic) and bauxite (Seydisehir)
Powder-ball loading ratio 0.5
samples were used. The densities of the samples, mea- Fractional powder filling 0.04
sured by a pycnometer, were determined as 2.70, 4.35,
2.42 and 3.00 for calcite, barite, colemanite and bauxite,
respectively. The grindability and work index values were determined
Prior to experiments, sample preparation work was per- in accordance with the standard Bond method [15]. This
formed. For point load strength tests, core samples from method is a closed-cycle dry grinding and sieving pro-
rock blocks were obtained with a core drilling machine, cess, and continued until obtaining steady-state condi-
followed by cutting and side smoothing. Point load tions. For standard Bond tests, approximately 10 kg of
strength tests were carried out using core samples, which material sized –3.35 mm was prepared from each kind of
were prepared in accordance with ISRM standards. The rock. Then, this material was compressed to 700 cm3
core samples obtained from each kind of rock were bro- using a sieve shaker and weighed. For the first grinding
ken by application of hydraulic load through a pair of cycle, 100 mill revolutions were chosen. At the end of
conical platens of the point load test apparatus. Then, the grinding cycle, whole material was discharged from
point load strength index (Is(50)) was calculated from the the standard Bond mill and sieved with a test sieve (Pi).
ratio of failure load to the equivalent core diameter The fresh feed material was added to the oversize to
after size correction. In the determination of point load obtain the weight corresponding to 700 cm3. Then, this
strength index (Is(50)) values, ten core samples for each charge was returned to the mill for a second grinding
rock were used. cycle. The weight of product per unit of mill revolution,
The breakage parameters (Si, aT and c) were determined namely the ore grindability of the cycle, was calculated
using the standard S and B method [1]. For this purpose, and used to determine the number of the mill revolution
monosized feed fractions of –850+600 lm, –600+425 lm required for the second grinding cycle producing the
and –425+300 lm were prepared from each kind of rock. 250 % circulating load. This process was continued until
These fractions were batch ground in a steel laboratory obtaining equilibrium conditions. At the end of this pro-
ball mill for 0.4, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 min of grinding cess, the average of the grindability values of the last
times. At the end of each grinding period, the mill con- three periods was accepted as the standard Bond grind-
tent was discharged and cone and quartered to obtain a ability. Bond work index values of each rock were calcu-
sample of approximately 45 g for sieve analysis. Then, lated using the grindability values. The properties of the
the sample
p was transferred to a series of sieves ordered standard Bond mill used and grinding conditions are
with 2 sequence from the top size of the feed. The outlined in Table 2.
sample on the each screen was washed for 5 min starting
from the top size and dried in an oven. The dried sample
remaining on the sieves was dry sieved by a shaker 3 Results and Discussion
apparatus for 10 min, and oversize material was
weighed. Then, this material, balls and whole material 3.1 Point Load Strength Index Values
which was discharged from the mill were returned to the
mill, where the grinding process continued. The proper- The uncorrected point load strength (Is) was calculated
ties of the ball mill used and grinding conditions are from Eq. (1), where P was failure load (N) and De was
given in Table 1. equivalent core diameter (mm). The corrected point

© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim http://www.ppsc-journal.com

206 Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 29 (2012) 204–210

Table 2: Standard Bond mill properties and grinding conditions. where, Pi is the test sieve (lm), G is standard Bond
Mill Diameter, mm 305 grindability (g/rev), P80 (lm) and F80 (lm) are 80 % pas-
Length, mm 305 sing size of product and feed, respectively. The results
Volume, cm3 22284 obtained from the standard Bond test of each rock sam-
Operational speed, rpm 70 ple are outlined in Table 4.
Media Material alloy steel
(Balls) Diameter, mm 44.5 29.7 25.4 19 15.5 Table 4: The results obtained from standard Bond test.
Number 26 67 10 71 94
Sample P80 (lm) F80 (lm) G (g/rev) Wi (kWh/t)
Specific gravity, g/cm3 7.8
Total weight, g 20415 Calcite 275 1150 5.57 10.48
Fractional ball filling 0.2 Barite 234 2080 9.20 4.92
Sample Specific gravity, Weight, Colemanite 237 2000 4.75 8.64
g/cm3 g Bauxite 330 2100 1.96 21.09
Calcite 2.70 1300.95
Barite 4.35 2192.62
Colemanite 2.42 1158.48 3.3 Breakage Parameters
Bauxite 3.00 1405.91
Powder-ball loading ratio 0.46
After point load index test, rock samples were also pre-
Fractional powder filling 0.04
pared as three monosized feed fractions of –850+600 lm,
–600+425 lm and –425+300 lm from each kind of rock
load strength (Is(50)) was also calculated from Eq. (2) for batch grinding with a laboratory size steel ball mill.
using correction coefficient (F) in Eq. (3): Fig. 1 shows the first-order plots for dry grinding of the
samples of –600+425 lm feed according to Eq. (5):
P
Is ˆ (1)
D2e wi(t) = wi(0) exp(–Sit) (5)

Is(50) = F Is (2)
 0:45
De
F ˆ (3)
50

The average values of point load index test results

obtained for the samples of each kind of rock are given
in Table 3.

Table 3: Point load index test results.

Point load strength index
Sample (Is(50)), (MPa)
Calcite 2.85
Barite 2.54
Colemanite 3.66
Bauxite 5.36

3.2 Bond Parameters

After point load index tests, rock samples were crushed

and prepared to undergo standard Bond tests. Then, dry Fig. 1: First-order plots for dry grinding of –600+425 lm feed size
of samples.
grinding and sieving processes were applied for each of
rock samples, and standard Bond grindability values
The variation of the specific rates of breakage (Si)
were determined. The Bond work index Wi (kWh/t)
against particle size is given in Eq. (6) where a is a num-
values were calculated using Eq. (4):
ber which characterizes the material in normal condi-
tions, aT is the specific rate of breakage at x0 = 1 mm and
44:5
Wi ˆ 1:1 p p (4) xi is the feed size interval. Fig. 2 also shows the variation
Pi 0:23 G0:82 ‰…10= P80 † …10= F80 †Š of the Si values with particle size.

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Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 29 (2012) 204–210 207

where Pi(0) = cumulative weight fraction at time 0 for

size interval i, Pi(t) = cumulative weight fraction at time
t for interval i. In Eq. (7), xi is the top size of the size in-
terval indexed by i. The parameters (c, f and b) given in
Eq. (8) present the characteristic of the material being
ground. These parameters can be closely fitted by an
empirical function [1]:
 c  b
xi 1 xi 1
Bi;1 ˆ f ‡ …1 f† ;i > 1 (8)
x1 x1

The breakage parameters obtained from each rock sam-

ple are also outlined in Table 5.

Table 5: Breakage parameters obtained from dry grinding of the

samples.
Sample Feed size, –600+425 lm
–1
Si (min ) c f b aT (min–1)
Calcite 0.71 1.04 0.40 4.19 1.24
Barite 0.90 0.80 0.42 4.01 1.35
Fig. 2: Variation of the Si values of samples with particle size. Colemanite 0.64 1.29 0.63 4.85 0.96
Bauxite 0.15 0.88 0.38 3.51 0.18
Si = aT (xi / x0)a (6)
3.4 Correlation of the Obtained Results
The cumulative primary breakage distribution (Bi,1)
function was determined using the BII calculation
The relationship between point load strength index
method given in Eq. (7). The Bi,1 function obtained for
(Is(50)) and specific rate of breakage (Si) obtained for
the barite sample is also represented in Fig. 3.
–600+425 lm feed size is given in Fig. 4. As seen from
Fig. 4, there is an inversely proportional relationship
between these parameters. That is, the specific rate of
breakage (Si) decreases with increasing point load

Fig. 3: Cumulative breakage distribution function for barite sample.

log‰…1 Pi …0††=…1 Pi …t††Š

Bi;1 ≅ ;i > 1 (7)
log‰…1 P2 …0††=…1 P2 …t††Š Fig. 4: The variation of the Si value with Is(50).

© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim http://www.ppsc-journal.com

208 Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 29 (2012) 204–210

strength index (Is(50)) for the studied samples. Hence, it

can be said that the ability of breakage decreases with
the increase in the strength values due to increasing
cohesion forces, which keep the material together. Simi-
lar to this finding, Fig. 5 shows the relationship between
point load strength index (Is(50)) and aT value. As a
result, it can be stated that there were linear correlations
between Si and aT values as the breakage parameters
and point load strength index (Is(50)) for the studied
samples. The relationship between point load strength
index (Is(50)) and c of Bi,j parameter is given in Fig. 6. As
seen from Fig. 6, in general, there is a directly propor-
tional relationship between these parameters; that is, c
increases with increasing point load strength index
(Is(50)) for the studied samples, except for the bauxite
sample. Consequently, as the strength increases, the par-
ticle size of ground product gets coarser, depending on
the increase of the c value.

Fig. 6: The variation of the c value with Is(50).

Fig. 5: The variation of the aT value with Is(50).

The correlations of Bond grindability (G) and Bond

work index (Wi) with point load strength index (Is(50))
are given in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, respectively. As seen from
these figures, while there is an inversely proportional
relationship between Is(50) and G, naturally there is a
directly proportional relationship between Is(50) and Wi.
For the studied samples, G decreases with increasing
Is(50) and Wi increases with increasing Is(50). Therefore, it
can be concluded that as the strength increases, the
grindability decreases, similar to the ability of the break-
age. These correlations obtained from this study were in
good agreement with those obtained with other studies
[10, 14]. In the first study, it was stated that point load
Fig. 7: The variation of the G value with Is(50).
strength index can be used for the estimation of coal
grindability and work index. Similarly, in the second
study carried out using limestone and chromite samples,
it was also reported that the Bond work index (Wi)
could be estimated practically, speedily and economic-
ally by using point load strength index.
The correlation of Si with G is shown in Fig. 9. As shown
in Fig. 9, there is a directly proportional relationship be-

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Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 29 (2012) 204–210
Fig. 8: The variation of the Wi value with Is(50).
Fig. 9: The variation of the Si value with G.
tween Si and G. That is, the increase in the grindability
values led to the increase in the Si values. Similar results
were also reported by Deniz [16].
4 Conclusions
This study was carried out in three stages. These were
the determination of mechanical strength, grindability
work index and breakage parameters of the studied rock
© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
209
samples. From the point load strength test, it was deter-
mined that bauxite was the strongest sample, and cole-
manite followed. According to the standard Bond test
results, it is possible to see that barite has the most
grindability value, but bauxite has the least grindability
value. From the results of the batch grinding performed
with the laboratory-type ball mill, it is clear that barite
has the highest specific rate of breakage (Si) and aT
value, but bauxite has the lowest values of those. By tak-
ing account of the c value which indicates the fineness of
the ground product, it can be concluded that barite pro-
duces the most amount of fine material. On the other
hand, based on the correlations of the test results, it is
possible to express that specific rate of breakage value
decreases with increasing mechanical strength. Similarly,
the fineness of the ground product increases due to
decrease of c value with decreasing mechanical strength.
The Bond grindability values decrease (Bond work
index naturally increases) with increasing mechanical
strength. Furthermore, it can be said that the grinding
process becomes faster with increasing grindability.
Acknowledgement
This study was produced from Ph.D thesis and authors
acknowledge the financial support provided by Selcuk
University Scientific Research Project Fund for the pro-
ject no: 06101010.
Symbols and Abbreviations
aT specific rate of breakage at x0 = 1 mm
particle size, min–1
a characteristic constant
c characteristic constant
f characteristic constant
b characteristic constant
Bi,j cumulative primary breakage function
of size j; fraction broken to less than size xi
in one breakage p
i integer denoting 2 size interval
Si specific rate of breakage of material
of size i, min–1
t time of grinding, minutes
wi(t) fraction of mill charge in size interval i
at time t
xi size of particles, mm
x0 standard size, 1 mm
Pi(0) cumulative weight fraction of time 0
for size interval i
Pi(t) cumulative weight fraction of time t
for interval i
http://www.ppsc-journal.com
210 Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 29 (2012) 204–210

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