Introduction to

Mineral Processing
• Mineral: A naturally occurring chemical compound
having a definite chemical composition and crystal
structure is called as mineral
• Ore: A natural aggregation of minerals from which
a metal or metallic compound can be extracted
economically is known as ore
• Gangue: Commercially valueless material
associated with the mineral is known as gangue
• Concentrate: The valuable product obtained after
mineral processing is known as concentrate
• Tailings: These are the materials left over after the
process of separating the valuable fraction from
the ore.
 Mineral Processing
• Mineral processing: It is regarded as the
treatment of ore to yield marketable products
and waste
• Scope of mineral processing
- Elimination of undesired chemical species
- Elimination of undersized particles
- Selective separation of desired material
 Objectives
• The basic objectives of Mineral processing is of two
kinds
- Economical
- Technical
• Undesired content of the original ore must be
reduced or removed below some specified limits so
that it is suitable for the metal extraction
• The product should confirm the various
requirements such as particle size, assay grade,
moisture content etc..
• If the ore contains more than one valuable mineral,
separation of those valuable minerals will be
essential in order to market them separately
Advantages of Mineral Processing
• Physical/chemical method of rejecting the waste
material is substituted for more expensive
metallurgical methods
• No need to transport the tailings
• Separation of two valuable minerals associated in
the ore gives more money than selling together in
ore
• Mineral processing results in reduced losses at
the smelter due to the reduction in amount of
metal bearing produced during smelting
• The total smelting cost is reduced due to
reduction in tonnage of ore to be smelted
Principle Steps in Mineral Processing
• The principle steps involved in processing of
ore to yield the suitable product from a
chemical stand point are
- liberation of dissimilar particles from
each other
- Separation of liberated chemically or
physically dissimilar particles into
concentrates and tailings
 Principle steps in Mineral Processing
• Principle steps in mineral processing
- Comminution
- Sizing
- Concentration
- Dewatering
 Comminution
• Comminution is the term used for reduction of ore
to a smaller size
• The main objective of the comminution is to
unlocking of values in the ore
• The operations involved in comminution are
regarded as crushing and grinding
• The extent of comminution depends on the
mineralogical nature of the associated gangue
minerals
• The extent of comminution is regulated by the
particle size required for the subsequent
concentration operation
 Sizing
• Separation of particles into various sized
fractions based on particle size
• Sizing can be accomplished by screening or
classification
• Sizing is practiced generally in between the
comminution process in industries
• Screens and classifiers are used for sizing
process
 Concentration
• It can be regarded as collection of valuable minerals
• It can be accomplished by a variety of appliances
depending on the type of mineral and its specific
characteristics
• Different equipment are employed in concentration
process
• Concentration operation gives two or more than final
products
- Concentrate
- Tailings
- Intermediates
• During concentration, various unfinished products of
intermediate grade are again retreated to make final
disposition into concentrates and tailings
 Dewatering
• The products from the concentration plant leave
either as moist gravel or sand or as fluid pulp
• The concentrate has be compulsorily dewatered
before the final use in the smelter or shipment
• Dewatering is usually carried out only to the
extent of producing a damp cake
• Dewatering can be accomplished in two steps
- In thickners to remove most of the water
- In filters which receive the thickened pulp
and yield the damp cake
Flow sheet