In This Review
- Summary
- Introduction
- Universities & Research
- Consultants & Contractors
- Software
- Books & Magazines
- Blasting
- Ball Mills
- SAG Mills
- Rod Mills
- High Pressure Grinding Rolls
- The Process
- Major Advances
- The Benefits
- Mill Manufacturer Specifications
Summary
This review looks at the different types of comminution, including blasting, crushing, grinding, and milling, as well as the equipment involved. It looks specifically at ball mills, SAG mills, rod mills, and high pressure grinding rolls. Links to software and publications related to comminution are also given.
Introduction
The word comminution is not frequently used in the mining industry. Maybe that is because the word is used more frequently in the chemical, ceramics, food, fertilizer, and pharmaceuticals industries. As good an introductory definition that applies to all these industries is
that comminution is a process whereby particulate materials are reduced from the coarse feed sizes to the fine product sizes required for downstream or end use.
This definition would appear to preclude blasting as part of the mining comminution process. Although I have been at conferences where blasting was said to be the critical first step in mining process optimization.
The InfoMine dictionary provides these definitions of Comminution:
- The gradual diminution of a substance to a fine powder or dust by crushing, grinding, or rubbing; specifically, the reduction of a rock to progressively smaller particles by weathering, erosion, or tectonic movements.
- The breaking, crushing, or grinding by mechanical means of stone, coal, or ore, for direct use or further processing. Syn: pulverization; trituration
- White, finely-ground rock material (rock-flour) characteristic of burst fractures. May be indicative of secondary movement on induced fractures.
We concern ourselves in this review with the first two definitions.
Universities & Research
The Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Center in Queensland, Australia, is one of the leaders in comminution research.
At the University of Cape Town in South Africa we have Dr. Malcolm Powell who describes himself thus:
"I am a professional rock breaker. I established the comminution group within the Mineral Processing Research Unit (MPRU) when joining UCT in 1997. This has grown to a group of 9 students and 10 employees. The group has established an international reputation in the world of mineral processing. Our research endeavours to condense applied and fundamental understanding of the processes into realistic models that can be used for modelling comminution processes."
Full Review
