Comminution a Heart of Mineral Processing

Date : 06-07-2021

Comminution: The key to optimizing concentrate, grade and recovery

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

By Arsalan Ahmad ¹ & Chinedu Francis Anochie ²

1.0 Introduction:

There are mainly two major sources of metallic and non-metallic materials (Fe, Cu, Al, C, S) viz.
primary and secondary. The primary is primarily associated with extracted natural resources in
which mineral aggregates are gotten from the ore. In secondary sources metals and other
valuable elements are gained from scraped or recycled materials. Since the industrial
revolution, there has been a massive demand for different metals in different industries, such as
construction, heavy metals, machine manufacturing, chemicals. The abrupt and enormous
transformation of these industries has created dramatic requirements for metal and minerals.
Indirectly, the more needs for primary resources as the enormous demands of metals and
minerals cannot be fulfilled by the limited secondary resources. That is why the extraction of
minerals and metals has been augmented from direct natural reserves for many decades. One
of the major areas which help to encourage efficient mineral processing activities is the heart of
ore dressing called size reduction or comminution stated by Oswer. (May 2012).

In crystalline-inorganic mineral ore, the structure consists of more than one chemical element,
rock types and even moisture. In other words, the basic chemical structure in the form of
different minerals, or the gangue, which is collectively known as mineral ore, is depicted in
Figure 1. Ore is a mixture of minerals, including other unnecessary impurities named gangue as
demonstrated by Oswer. (May 2012).

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

Figure. 1 Ore sample (Mining-technology)

Kapadia, S. (2018); Wills, B. and Napier?Munn T. (2006 a)

The term “Size” for mineral ores is defined as “physical dimension of the mineral particle” while
“Reduction” refers to “decrement” or “the process of decreasing the size” (Richardson et al.,
2002). Hence, the “Size Reduction” is explained in terms of converting minerals from a larger
size, or shape of a higher level to that of a minute one. Therefore, this helps in reducing the size
of the material. Furthermore, the operation is carried out to decrease the size of bigger particles
into smaller ones of the desired size and shapes via various external forces (Richardson et al.,
2002; Swain A.K et al., 2011). Comminution is one of the first and significant activities in ore
dressing. It liberates two or more valuable minerals from each other and frees them from
worthless concentrates (gangue). It is a generic term for size reduction, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure: 2 Comminution (Size-Reduction)

Technically, comminution helps to disintegrate the precious constituents of an ore from the
worthless materials (gangue). Comminution serves to liberate the minerals from their interlocked
physical states. Generally, it starts with crushing the bigger ore particles to a certain size and
dimension, and ends with grinding the reduced materials into powder. Be it mine-to-mill
reduction or crushing and grinding of ore particles, comminution improves the surface area of
mineral particles. This process dramatically improves separation efficiency in minerals as

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

magnetic particle separation, mineral flotation, optical sorting, microbial activities, and every
other form of separation technique can be easily achieved. “Thus, by reducing comminution
size, it tends to create a much larger surface area for mineral particles which becomes
advantageous in several processes such as leaching, froth flotation, etc.” (Swain A.K et al.,
2011).

Comminution also reflects the economic value of ores. By optimizing the breaking down of ore
particles, the possibility of having middlings or gangue particles is significantly reduced in
recovered valuable concentrates. The subsequent process leads to an improved grade of
recovered valuable concentrates, thereby validating the essential benefits of size reduction in
every stage of mineral processing. “As it is this process that achieves separation of values
from gangue, it is also the process that is essential for efficient separation of the minerals, and it
is often said to be the key to sound mineral processing” Wills, B. and Napier?Munn T. (2006 a)
p. 125; Wills, B. and Napier?Munn T. p. 125 (2006 b). Comminution techniques focus on
changing the raw materials to easy and manageable feed for upcoming separation or various
ore carriers (mining site to market).

Poor size reduction operations also lead to loss of precious materials (ores, minerals, and
metals) in gangue particles. Effective comminution thereby cuts across every stage of the
mineral processing pathway. As modern research and attempts are geared towards promoting
innovation and sustainability in the mineral resources value chain, comminution is critical to
achieving these necessary objectives. Further sections of this expository work discussed
comminution in detail, its influence on mineral grade and recovery, and environmental and raw
materials sustainability. Recent technological advancements were also discussed in
comminution, and finally, recommendations were made where necessary for best size reduction
practices in the future.

2.0 How is Mineral Comminution Achieved?

After analyzing minerals by Geologists, ore samples need size reduction from bulk to required
diameters to get separated from the waste material. This reduction of size is attained via a
series of progressive crushing and grinding operations. In crushing, generally, the large
diameter rocks are fed into the crusher in which the large rock is cut into further small pieces
from the size ranges of a few centimeters to millimeters. Subsequently, the smaller aggregates
are separated from the oversized particles through the aid of screens. The undersize or ore
particles of desired sizes after crushing are now the feed for the following process, which is
named grinding. Grinding is one of the most important parts of the whole mineral beneficiation
process. Mainly the internal grinder structures consist of various grinding media such as metallic
rods, balls, etc., for the size reduction of particles (Clarence H. and Lorig H. G., March 2017).
The passing of mineral aggregates through the media results in considerable changes in
relatively big rotating uniaxial tumbler (ball mill) under gravity’s significant impact. The
subsequent screening as per the needs at different steps can be followed by crushing and
grinding. The different diameter holes in sieve analysis separate the material into various sizes.
Further in the process, the resulting aggregate is mixed with liquid chemicals to remove
unimportant gangue through a range of separation techniques. The separation or concentration
can be easily performed by color, density, magnetic, electric, and other aggregate properties.

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

Finally, flotation, filtration, thickening, dewatering, and drying methods create the mineral
identical and steady for different uses (Drzymala, J., 2007).

Generally, in the comminution operation’s initial process, the mineral does not lose its
fundamental physical and chemical originality. In it, the size of mineral particles changes
through different operations, which are named unit operations. These basic operations fulfil the
needs of the market, changing the minerals into more acceptable products without varying
nature (Lewis et al., 1976). In all operations, mineral beneficiation is performed by crushing and
then grinding with the different major equipment. The massive particles are then passed through
rigid surfaces (jaws, rollers, etc.), where pebbles get hammered, compressed, and squeezed,
then broken into small pieces. These fragments further move towards different machinery with
definite desirable size opening and again pass under intense breakage and are converted into
tiny particles. Hence, in mineral processing or extractive metallurgy, such kind of unit operations
are technically known as comminution.

2.1 Why is mineral comminution significant?

The two significant comminution objectives involve liberation, and the preparation of mineral
surfaces for separation and/or extraction. The first liberation is needed to free up the complex
and interwoven minerals in the primary ore into various individual particles or components. The
next operation helps in adjusting the particles’ size to adapt to the desired dimensions for other
subsequent processes (Swain A.K et al., 2011). These are basics to receive solids of desired
size (or size ranges) or specific surfaces. Moreover, it is also of significance to break apart
minerals intimately in contact with each other. Therefore, accordingly, the power consumption
requirements are computed, and pieces of equipment are designed. Hence, comminution is
usually done in order to promote the surface area of reduced and liberated minerals. This
serves to enhance the area of solid mineral particles in contact with the liquid or solid phase
around it during separation and extraction operations, enhancing the chemical interaction,
dissolution, enrichment, etc. of the minerals and the separation agents employed (Swain A.K et
al., 2011).

2.2 Comminution Types/Methods & Mechanisms:

There are different breakage patterns/methods through which the size reduction can be
achieved (Brown G.G. and Associates, 1995). These processes are highlighted below;

Impact: The mineral particles break by single rigid force,

Compression: Two rigid forces disintegrate the ore particles.

Shear: The mechanism in which fluid or particle to particle interaction is employed in ore
disintegration.

Attrition: arising from the ore/mineral materials interacting with two hard surfaces.

There is also the non-mechanical disintegration arising from the introducing comminution

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

energies in the form of; thermal shock, explosive shattering, cryogenic crushing, etc.

2.2.1 Breakage Mechanism:

Depending on the breaking phenomena, one can majorly classify them into two mechanisms:
volume and surface (Swain A.K et al., 2011).

Volume Phenomena:

It is a phenomenon in which parent particles, as depicted in Figure 3 (a), possessing irregular

shapes due to specific breakage patterns (Impact, Compression, etc.) reach their elastic limit as
shown in Figure 3 (b), and is then, fractured into smaller particles as shown in Figure 3 (c).
Therefore, the larger particle no more exists in its bulk form and is transformed into smaller
particles of small volumes. This is a volume phenomenon.

Surface Phenomena:

As shown in Figure 3(a), the sharp-edge parent particles have angular corners because of
breakage patterns, i.e. shear or attrition turn into smooth edges. There is no considerable
change in volume or size during the process; only the surface structures are changed and
become smooth, as exhibited in Figure 3 (d).

Figure: 3 Breakage Mechanism (Narayanan, C. and Bhattacharyya B.,1992) (a) Parent Particle
before Breakage (b) Starting of Volume Phenomenon (Elastic Limit) (c) Volume Fracture (d)
Surface Phenomenon.

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

3.0 Effect of comminution in mineral liberation:

Comminution or size reduction requires a very high amount of energy. As per specific
estimation, the energy required to get the mineral ore to the powdery form ranges from 5kwh to
25 kWh per tonne depending on types of equipment and characteristics of ore particles
(hardness, strength, etc.) (Wills, B. and Napier?Munn T., 2006 a); Wills, B. and Napier?Munn
T.,2006 b). In most cases, comminution is always the initial stage in ore dressing as it aids in
reducing the size of the ore particles, and in liberating the minerals of interest from the gangue
materials. The minerals are found in nature, consisting of agglomeration of the various particles
of another aggregate. When there are single mineral particles agglomeration, it is named as
“Free Particles',' and if there are more different kinds of particles, these are together called
“Locked Particles” (Richardson et al., 2002). By reducing size, the main goal for liberation is to
unlock the rich mineral particles from the waste gangue. Usually, unlocking mineral aggregate is
related to the function of the degree of mineral liberation. The ratio of the total fraction of the
minerals present as liberated particles in an ore to that of the total materials contained in it is
referred to as “Degree of Liberation'' (Drzymala J., 2007 ; Gross J.,1938).

Hence, more liberated particles are more likely to get free from one another, and more individual
minerals to be available in massive formation. Therefore, by converting the small size in
comminution, it tends to form a very high surface area for mineral particles which becomes very
beneficial (a key to concentrate and recovery) in several techniques such as froth flotation,
leaching. For example, in the leaching process, the tiny ore particles present in powder form a
large and effective surface area. This is more likely to be dissolved in alkali or acid, which is
then transformed into a rich solution and influences subsequent methods.

Moreover, from the literature (Drzymala, J., 2007) it becomes evident that the comminution
process generates a large surface area. The breakage of particles evolves new surfaces that
are more active and easily prone to chemical (or physical) reactions as any geological process
does not weather these surfaces.

The manner in which mineral particles are liberated from each other significantly affects their
grade and recovery. For instance, a very high degree of liberation may lead to the minerals of
value being reduced to ultrafine particles (slimes). These particles tend to report to gangue
concentrates during mineral separation, reducing the quality and quantity of valuable raw
materials. Also, magnetic minerals such as iron ores that undergo magnetic separation do not
require a high degree of liberation. As such, to optimize concentrate recovery and grade,
optimizing mineral liberation is highly important. Ozgan and Benzer (2013) investigated the
effect of impact and bed breakage comminution mechanisms on the degree of liberation and
particle size distribution of two different copper ores. The results from their study showed that
the compressive bed breakage mechanism gave a more acceptable product particle size
distribution and provided better mineral liberation than the impact breakage mechanism. Also,
similar work on a magnetite-rich ore using SFC and HFGR comminution methods showed
similar results with the HFGR resulting in a slightly higher mass and iron recovery (Swain A.K et
al., 2011).

Mineral liberation can be achieved in stages and are illustrated below;

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

ROM ore ? Blasting ? Grinding

ROM ore ? Crushing ? Grinding

The two pathways denote the mine-to-mill and the conventional Crushing and grinding routes of
comminution. Whichever method is adopted, excellent liberation leads to the best mineral
separation and extraction processes.

3.1.1 Crushing

Crushing is the initial stage in comminution where big lumps of ore from natural reserves are
being crushed into a standard size (25mm) from its larger size. The process of screening is also
followed by crushing in an earlier stage. Crushing reduces the ROM ores to a size of about
25mm. It is the first stage of mineral liberation and is vital to prepare the ore for subsequent
milling during the grinding stage. At every step, oversize ore fragments, which are not effectively
crushed into the required size, are transmitted for re-crushing by process circuit (closed), and
undersize is forward to the next size reduction operation. The way the ore is crushed also
affects grade and recovery. For instance, poor crushing will result in many oversizes. These
oversize may contain a high percentage of the minerals of interest, thereby adversely affecting
the recovered ones’ economic value.

Basically, in the comminution process, a big rock is crushed into fragments by colliding against
certain media, e.g., steel rods, balls, etc., or with the machine or other particles. As the
reduction of size proceeds, the number of particles enhances, thus requiring more collisions per
unit mass (Drzymala, J., 2007). The capacity of comminution equipment (which is the total kg of
material handled per unit time) of original dimensions affects the breaking down of the mineral
particles. Therefore, many of the ore particles have to remain in the miller for a much longer
time to receive enough collisions and receive the required degree of size reduction. There is
hardly any equipment that has enough capacity to automatically adjust itself to changing
requirements of collision and particle contact in practice. In industrial operations, that is why it is
the most significant need to perform size reduction in at least three different subsequent stages
(Swain A.K et al.,2011).

The process of Crushing is achieved in three stages:

Primary Crushing: Coarser size reduction (50 to 250 mm or more)

Secondary Crushing: Intermediate size reduction (25 to 75 mm) and
Tertiary Crushing: Fine reduction (5 to 15 mm)

3.1.2 Grinding:

In the crushing operation, the valuable mineral is liberated to a certain level. However, few of
the particles are still combined with gangue materials. Therefore, the particle size requires
further intense crushing steps, which are named milling or grinding. In the milling stage, the
under-size from the crushing process is the feed (Inoue, T. 2009). Grinding is the next stage
after crushing, and it is very energy-intensive. During this stage, crushed ores are reduced to

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

smaller or refined particle sizes. The level of effectiveness realized during mineral separation
hugely depends on grinding. Are the size and geometry of the ground ores optimum for physical
or chemical reactivity? Are the percentage of minerals existing as locked particles or middling
high in the ground ore? These and many other vital questions are vital for optimizing grade and
recovery in ore dressing plants. Grinding in mineral processing is achieved using rod mills, ball
mills, SAG mills, etc.

3.2 Effect of comminution in mineral separation:

Separation, also known as concentration, involves the removal of a mineral from others.
Depending on the physical, physicochemical, and chemical properties, many techniques are
employed in separating minerals. The effect of comminution in mineral concentration cannot be
overemphasized. For instance, during mineral flotation, the reagents’ ability to perform their
selective activation and depressive functions rely heavily on the liberated minerals’ particle
size. Suppose the minerals are coarse, poor separation efficiency results. Over grinding of ores
also has its limitations. In Lie et.al. (2018), tried to compare the effect of different comminution
techniques on hematite ore samples. For the first sample, a High Pressure Grinding Roll
(HPGR) was used for the crushing, followed by sieving and successive grinding in a ball mill.
For the second sample, HPGR was used, followed by air classification, while option C was
treated with a jaw crusher, screened, and subsequently ball-milled. From their results, the
recovery rate of the HPGR size reduction and liberation route rose by 4.5 to 5.2 percent, which
was higher when compared to the ball milling process (Lie et.al., 2018).

Consequently, the best practice is to tailor the mineral’s breaking down to suit any separation
technique that would be used.

3.3 Effect of comminution on raw material sustainability:

In today's world, raw material sustainability is one of the major orders of the day. The Paris
agreement for a smart and sustainable society by 2030 has made this concept more important
than ever. Previous research has shown that size reduction plays a crucial role in the
sustainable processing and management of precious minerals and materials.

By optimizing comminution processes, the best grade and recovery relationship can be
achieved during mineral separation and extraction. Comminution ensures that valuable
materials are not lost as wastes or tailings and, as a result, promotes sustainable mine to metal
production. Also, by optimizing comminution and recovering high-grade concentrates, the
trending concept of circular economy aimed at encouraging sustainability in each stage of the
raw material value chain will only be most needed in recycling end-of-life products and waste
materials. The materials of value in ores would have been recovered during separation and
extraction. This will drive sustainability on the only end-of-life products, thereby eliminating the
cost, time, energy, and resources utilized in concentrating primary resources that are lost to
wastes during mineral processing.

3.4 Effect of Comminution on Environmental Conservation:

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

Mining wastes and tailings resulting from ore excavation and beneficiation activities contribute to
environmental degradation. The number of harmful elements like Hg, As, Cd, and Pb released
to the environment highly depends on the comminution process. Effective size reduction and
mineral liberation ensure that these toxic but valuable metals are adequately freed from
worthless particles. This promotes their extraction and neutralization during extraction and
tailings management operations. On the other hand, poor comminution processes imply that
these materials will remain in the mine waste. As a result, they end up in human, wildlife, and
aquatic habitats causing harm to these environments and promoting biodiversity loss in the
process.

4.0 Factors Mitigating Effective Comminution:

4.1 The hardness of Feed Material:

The hardness represents the resistance to scratching, abrasion, or indentation. Therefore, it is a

good indication of the mineral’s abrasive nature and its stiffness towards crushing. In general,
the comminution of hard materials needs more and more energy for its breakage. That is why
longer resistance time (through input) is usually observed (Narayanan, C. and Bhattacharyya B.,
1992). Thus, more power for comminuting minerals into the desired size. The robust
construction of equipment may also require hard material, which can harm the internal design of
a machine. This abnormality in equipment design will adversely affect the disintegration and
preparation of mineral surfaces during size reduction.

Hard materials also tend to wear the crusher, rollers, and grinder material. This abrasive
characteristic requires more wear-resistant equipment such as manganese steels and
sometimes corrosion-resistant materials like Chromium steels (Swain A.K et al., 2011).
According to the handling of hard material, there is a necessity to design and construct the wear-
resistant material for the equipment to avoid significant wear during operations. Along with
them, slow speed is also employed to decrease the wear.

Generally, rigid ore/mineral particles can be grouped into three major components: Soft
minerals (gypsum and talc), Intermediate hard minerals (Limestone), and Hard minerals (Quartz
and Diamond).

4.2 The internal structure of Feed:

Every individual factual solid material has a particular crystalline structure. The atoms in its
crystals are arranged in a repeated geometry (Drzymala, J.,2007) These atomic patterns have a
particular type of plane in the crystal named cleavage planes. Breakage occurs when a
sufficient amount of pressure is exerted on the rock along with these planes. Viz. Consideration
of mica of singles flat scale under certain perpendicular pressure (impact or compression)
makes it difficult to break. However, if a parallel pressure pattern (shear or attrition) is exerted, it
will be very easily broken out (Drzymala, J.,2007). As for the crystalline structure is a concern,
the cleavage planes of feed should be targeted first. When these materials are broken into small
fragments, the fragment’s morphology depends on the parent particle’s crystalline structure,
i.e., Mica breaks into flat plates while Galena breaks into cubes.

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

4.3 Moisture Content:

The moisture content in a mineral ore can either promote or hinder effective comminution. In
some minerals, moisture levels greater than around 2 to 3 % can lead to clogging of the mill or
agglomeration in mineral particles (Swain A.K et al.,2011; Drzymala, J.,2007). On the other
hand, the too dry condition may cause an excessive dust formation level in the mill due to more
size reduction (Swain A. K et al.,2011; Drzymala, J.,2007). Moreover, a high level of water
content above 50% is considered as wet grinding/milling. This process is mainly employed when
there is a product requirement in the form of slurry or suspension.

4. 4 Temperature Sensitivity of Ore:

The formation of heat during the grinding process may result in the loss of heat-sensitive
components. During the reduction of any ore material’s size, some heat is generated during the
comminution process, which is harmful to some parts of materials that are heat sensitive. That
is why in some cases, cryogenic (low-temperature) comminution is necessary, such as cooling
during the grinding process using liquid nitrogen or ice (Swain A.K et al., 2011).

4.5 Modes of Comminution Operations:

4.5.1 Open Circuit Grinding:

It is the simplest horizontal method of operating a mill, as exhibited in Figure 4 (a), in which feed
passes from one side of the mill and exists from the other side as a product (product passes
straight through it). In some instances, due to large distribution in the sizes of minerals, some of
the particles easily pass through the screens while others remain for a longer time frame leading
to high energy requirements (Drzymala, J.,2007; Swain A.K et al., 2011).

4.5.2 Free Crushing:

This is similar to a vertical operating method like open circuit grinding, but here particles move
freely by gravity. Therefore, the time needed to reduce the particles to the optimum sizes is
reduced due to the free fall of the materials as a result of the action of gravity. The particles are
passed mainly by singles or few impacts, which cause reduction of undersize products and low
energy consumptions.

4.5.3 Choke Feeding:

It is also one type of open circuit method, but here, screens are placed on the discharge end, as
in Figure 4 (b). Therefore, discharge of the mineral particles is hindered using an outlet screen.
This ensures the particles remain choked in the reduction area until the desired size and
dimension is achieved. Furthermore, prolonged size reduction causes the generation of

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

undersized particles and hence additional consumption of energy. On the contrary, this helps to
prevent large oversize which have marked positive influence on the reduction ratio.

Figure 4 (a) Open Circuit Diagram and (b) Choke Feeding Circuits

4.5.4 Closed Circuit Grinding:

Another mode of operation is closed circuit grinding as depicted in Figure 4 (c). In this, the feed-
in crusher is fed from one end, and the product exists from the other one. The crushed product
is screened using the screener; the undersize is the final product (Swain A.K et al., 2011).
However, the oversize is again recycled back to the crusher. Therefore, in this type of operation,
the oversize particles are processed in a closed-loop (or circuit) until and unless the desired size
is achieved. Moreover, the residence time is kept short, but in the process of screening, the
classifier system at the outlet separates and recycles oversize mineral ores (Drzymala, J.,2007).
It is a more energy-efficient operation consisting of a narrow size of the final product but with a
classifier system’s additional cost.

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

Figure 4 (c) Closed Circuit Diagram

4.6 Energy used in Comminution:

The most critical parameter in comminution is power consumption (energy), which defines
comminution equipment’s energy efficiency. The total energy consumed for size reduction is as
little as almost 1% of the total energy applied (Narayanan, C. and Bhattacharyya B., 1992).
Most of the energy is dissipated in distorting the particles to the elastic limit, compacting
particles after fracture, overcoming the friction between the particles, and plastically deforming
the grinding surfaces. In this context, maximum energy is dissipated as sound and heat energy.
It is interesting to know that a total of 5% of world energy needs go to the deformation and
disintegration of particles (Swain A.K et al.,2011). The challenge is to design and construct
energy-efficient comminution equipment for maximum utilization of energy.

4.7 Cost of Comminution:

The comminution process consists of the most energy-intensive and costly set of unit operations
at mill/mine sites, as depicted in Table 1.

Table 1: Conventional Breakdown of Cost of Comminution (Narayanan, C. and

Bhattacharyya B., 1992).

Size Operations Total Comminution Costs in %

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

 Explosive Fracture 1%

Coarse Crushing 2%

Fine Crushing 20%

Grinding 77%

4.8 Ore Type/Ore Variability

According to literature (Faramarzi et al.,2019) the intrinsic heterogeneity within an ore domain
affects comminution circuits’ performance by increasing the feed characteristics’ rate of
changes. The complexity of ores has always been a significant issue in mineral processing.
Because of how different minerals link to each other in complex ores, it is pretty challenging to
liberate these minerals into their components. Also, low-grade ores pose a much more
significant problem as the minute quantities of the minerals of value dynamically interwoven
themselves with larger gangues. These complexities have encouraged research on improving
flotation and recovery by optimizing certain process parameters such as collector dosage,
percent solid, and particle size (Wills, B. A. and Finch J., 2015). The latter is where comminution
plays a key role. This area is still very much open for research as the variability in complex ores,
and low-grade ores impede the economic and profitable extraction of their valuable contents
(Faramarzi et al.,2019).

5.0 Comminution and Technology

The need to reduce energy and cost requirements and to improve liberation efficiency during
comminution has led to many technological innovations in the mining industry. One example is
the introduction of Autogenous Grinding (AG) and Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG) mills in ore
comminution. These grinding media help reduce the number of stages needed to reduce ore
particles to the desired sizes and encourage cost and energy conservation while improving
concentrate recovery and grade.

Before the last two decades, attempts to optimize comminution processes have led to adopting
the mine-to-mill size reduction method. This method was developed at Julius Kruttschnitt
Mineral Research Centre, Australia. The idea of the mine-to-mill comminution technique is to
save cost and energy requirements during comminution by eliminating the crushing stage.
According to research by Scott et al. (1992) Table 2 below compares the mine-to-mill method to

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

the conventional crushing and grinding technique in terms of energy and cost requirements.

Table 2: Comparison of the cost and energy requirements of the mine-to-mill

comminution method to that of crushing and grinding (Swain A.K et al., 2011).

Energy (KWh/t) Factor Cost per tonne Factor

($)

Blasting 0.2 1 0.15 1

Crushing 2 10 0.75 5

Grinding 20 100 3.75 25

From the energy and cost requirements, the blasting and grinding (mine to mill) operations will
require a total of 20.2 KWh/t and $ 3.90/t of energy and cost, respectively. However, the
crushing and grinding approach will need 22 KWh/t and $ 4.5/t of energy and cost. This depicts
that the mine to mill method of comminution technology is the best in energy and cost
optimization.

Also, recent studies by (Parapari S.et al., 2020) showed the impact of various comminution
technologies on the recovery rate of some selected minerals. This is illustrated in Table 3 below;

Table 3: Impact of various comminution technologies on the rate of recovery of some

selected minerals (Parapari S.et al., 2020).

Ore type Mineral(s) of Comminution Breakage Remarks

Interest Technique Mechanism

Lead-Zinc ore Galena and Vibratory rods & Vibration rods HPGR led to a

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

 Sphalerite HPGR (Impact) higher recovery
rate for both
HPGR minerals
(Compression)

Copper sulfide Chalcocite Slow Slow Slow compression

ore compressive load compression test rate improved
liberation in the
grain boundary of
ore

Low grade iron Magnetite, Hammer mill & Piston-die press No variation in the
ore quartz, feldspar Piston-die press (compression), degree of
Hammer mill liberation of
(impact) minerals

Iron ore Hematite Jaw crusher & Jaw crusher Sloe compression
HPGR (impact), HPGR on HPGR
(compression) produced higher
liberation degree

(a) Gold ore Pyrite For a & b; For a & b; For a & b;
containing pyrite
JK rotary A range of force 1 Degree of
breakage tester rate with energy liberation was
levels 0.1 KWh/t, better in
0.2 KWh/t & 2.5 compression
KWh/t
2 Liberation
degree was the
(b) Copper same in fine size
sulfide ore fractions

Chalcopyrite 3 The different

energy levels had
no impact on the
liberation degree

With recent advancements in technology, the future looks very promising regarding optimizing
mineral comminution, grade, and recovery. Also, applying technology and mathematical
modelling tools are highly encouraged as it will help improve the overall value chain of mining-
related operations. The latter is already gaining ground with the introduction and adoption of

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

geo-metallurgical modeling in many mining industries.

6.0 Discussion & Conclusions:

Having discussed comminution at length, its limitations, and effects in the various stages of the
mineral value chain, we draw the following conclusions;

1. Effective comminution is the key to optimize mineral processing plants and better
manage ore dressing tailings.
2. Comminution is greatly influenced by cost and energy requirements, ore type, and ore
characteristics.
3. Mineral separation and metal extraction processes are made more efficient with good
and innovative size reduction and mineral liberation practices.
4. Environmental conservation and raw materials sustainability are promoted by efficient
size reduction methods.
5. To achieve the best grade-recovery relationships in ore dressing, technological
intervention, as well as statistical and mathematical models, are highly necessary.

References

1. Baawuah, E., Kelsey C., Addai-Mensah J., and Skinner W. (2020). "Comparison of the
performance of different comminution technologies in terms of energy efficiency and
mineral liberation." Minerals Engineering 156: 106454.
2. Brown G.G. and Associates (1995). "“Unit Operations”, CBS Publishers “.
3. Clarence H., Lorig H. G. (March 2017). "Mineral processing. Encyclopedia Britannica.".
4. Drzymala, J. (2007). "Mineral processing." Foundations of theory and practice of
mineralurgy: 381-382.
5. Faramarzi, F., Kanchibotla S. S. and Morrison R. (2019). Simulating the impact of ore
competence variability on process performance–Case study of a large copper mine.
SAG Conference, Vancouver, Canada.
6. Gross, J. (1938). Crushing and Grinding, US Government Printing Office.
7. Inoue, T. (2009). "Mineral comminution and separation systems." Civil Engineering-
Volume II 5: 248.
8. Kapadia, S. (2018). Comminution in mineral processing, Research gate.
9. Lewis, F., L. FM, C. JL and B. RB (1976). "COMMINUTION: A GUIDE TO SIZE-
REDUCTION SYSTEM DESIGN. I."
10. Liu, L., Tan, Q., Liu, L., & Cao, J. (2018). Comparison of different comminution flow
sheets in terms of minerals liberation and separation properties. Journal of Mining
Engineering, 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2018.05.023
11. Narayanan, C. and Bhattacharyya B. (1992). Mechanical Operations for Chemical
Engineers: Incorporating Computer-Aided Analysis, khanna publishers.
12. Oswer. (May 2012). "Introduction to mining and mineral processing."
13. Ozcan, O. and Benzer H. (2013). "Comparison of different breakage mechanisms in
terms of product particle size distribution and mineral liberation." Minerals Engineering

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

 49: 103-108.
14. Parapari S., Parian M., and Rosenkranz J. (2020). "Breakage process of mineral
processing comminution machines–an approach to liberation."
15. Richardson, J. F., Harker J. H. and Backhurst J. R. (2002). Coulson and Richardson's
chemical engineering volume 2-particle technology and separation processes,
Butterworth-Heinemann.
16. Scott, A., Kanchibotla S. and Morrell S. (1999). Blasting for mine to mill optimisation.
Proceedings of the Explo.
17. Swain A.K., P. H. a. R. G. K. (2011). "Mechanical Operations. Tata McGraw Hill
Education Pvt.ltd. New Delhi.".
18. Wills, B. A. and Finch J. (2015). Wills' mineral processing technology: an introduction to
the practical aspects of ore treatment and mineral recovery, Butterworth-Heinemann.

Authors:
Arsalan Ahmad ¹ & Chinedu Francis Anochie ² ¹ Institute of Advanced M
aterials Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bosan road 60800 Multan, Pakis
tan ² Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Abuja, Nigeria

Pakistan's Only Newspaper on Science & Technology Contact Us: info@techologytimes.pk

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)