The Department of Chemical & Metallurgical Engineering

Private Bag X680

Pretoria
0001
Tel. (012) 382 6364 / 6274 /3595
Fax. (012) 382 6275

Monthly Report: Work Integrated Learning

Month No.:

Date: From/To

16 March to 12 April

Employer Name:

Minopex Aqurius Platinum mine

Student Initials and Surname:

TP Shilenge

Student Number:

212046710

Student e-mail:

thembishilenge0@gmail.com

Student Cell No:

0785600060

Mentor e-mail:

diderik.nel@minopex.co.za
Description of tasks completed by student

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MILLING SECTION ON THE PLANT

Milling also refers to the process of breaking down, separating, sizing, or classifying
aggregate material. For instance rock crushing or grinding to produce uniform aggregate
size for construction purposes, or separation of rock, soil or aggregate material for the
purposes of structural fill or land reclamation activities.

Grinding may serve the following purposes in engineering:

increase of the surface area of a solid

manufacturing of a solid with a desired grain size
pulping of resources

In this process Ball mills are used to reduce the size of the ore, to grind the pgm stones
that have already been crushed at the primary and secondary crushing and the slurry that
overflowed on the mill cyclones
Density was controlled and to be kept between 2.2 and 2.4 , I was taking densities of the
primary mill discharge and secondary ball mill discharge also took densities of the mill
cyclones all at the interval of one hour for working hours if the density was too high I would
operate the spillage pump by horsing on the ground of the mill section and the pump was
pumping back to the mills which will dilute the slurry and hence reduce the density and if
the density was too low then we would reduce the water feeding inside the mill
Competency in taking densities
first I used a sample cutter, to cut the samples on the mill discharge and put inside
the flask used for densities
left the flask hanging on the scale
recorded the density then dispose on the spillage area where it can be pumped back
to the process
clean the flask and the sample cutter
I operated the butterfly valves, in closing for water not to pass through and to open for the
water to pass through, when horsing on the section for good housekeeping.
I operated the switches on the mill devices in barring the mill before the mill can start
running, it completed a full circle of 360 during barring then I stopped then I switched off
and my collegue Matthews was helping in dis-engaging the teeth of the motor so that the
mill can start running
I un-choked the ball feeder by pushing inside the feeder using metal so that the balls can
flow into the mill
Did housekeeping on the section, to keep it clean and tidy
A typical type of fine grinder is the ball mill. A slightly inclined or horizontal rotating cylinder
is partially filled with balls, usually stone or metal, which grinds material to the necessary
fineness by friction and impact with the tumbling balls. Ball mills normally operate with an
approximate ball charge of 30%.

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Principle
it works on the principle of impact,i.e.,size reduction is done by impact as the balls
drop from near the top of the shell.
Construction
A ball mill consists of a hollow cylindrical shell rotating about its axis. The axis of the
shell may be either horizontal or at a small angle to the horizontal. it is partially filled
with balls.The grinding media is the balls which may be made of steel (chrome steel),
stainless steel or rubber. The inner surface of the cylindrical shell is usually lined with
an abrasion-resistant material such as manganese steel or rubber. less wear takes
place in the rubber lined mills. The length of the mill is approximately equal to its
diameter.
Working
In case of continuously operated ball mill, the material to be ground is fed from the
left through 60 cone and the product is discharged through a 30 cone to the right.
As the shell rotates, the balls are lifted up on the rising side of the shell and then they
cascade down (or drop down on to the feed), from near the top of the shell. in doing
so, the solid particles in between the balls are ground and reduced in size by impact.
Applications
The ball mill is used for grinding materials such as coal, pigments, and felspar for
pottery. Grinding can be carried out either wet or dry but the former is carried at low
speed.
Description

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Bench top ball mill

Laboratory scale ball mill

High-energy ball milling

A ball mill, a type of grinder, is a cylindrical device used in grinding (or mixing)
materials like ores, chemicals, ceramic raw materials and paints. Ball mills rotate
around a horizontal axis, partially filled with the material to be ground plus the
grinding medium. Different materials are used as media,
including ceramic balls, flint pebbles and stainless steel balls. An internal cascading
effect reduces the material to a fine powder. Industrial ball mills can operate
continuously, fed at one end and discharged at the other end. Large to medium-sized
ball mills are mechanically rotated on their axis, but small ones normally consist of a
cylindrical capped container that sits on two drive shafts (pulleys and belts are used
to transmit rotary motion). A rock tumbler functions on the same principle. Ball mills
are also used in pyrotechnics and the manufacture of black powder, but cannot be
used in the preparation of some pyrotechnic mixtures such as flash powder because
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of their sensitivity to impact. High-quality ball mills are potentially expensive and can
grind mixture particles to as small as 5 nm, enormously increasing surface area and
reaction rates. The grinding works on the principle of critical speed. The critical
speed can be understood as that speed after which the steel balls (which are
responsible for the grinding of particles) start rotating along the direction of the
cylindrical device; thus causing no further grinding.
Ball mills are used extensively in the mechanical alloying process[1] in which they are
not only used for grinding but for cold welding as well, with the purpose of producing
alloys from powders.

Lead antimony grinding media with aluminium powder.

The ball mill is a key piece of equipment for grinding crushed materials, and it is
widely used in production lines for powders such as cement, silicates, refractory
material, fertilizer, glass ceramics, etc. as well as for ore dressing of both ferrous
non-ferrous metals. The ball mill can grind various ores and other materials either
wet or dry. There are two kinds of ball mill, grate type and overfall type due to
different ways of discharging material. There are many types of grinding media
suitable for use in a ball mill, each material having its own specific properties and
advantages. Key properties of grinding media are size, density, hardness, and
composition.
Size: The smaller the media particles, the smaller the particle size of the final
product. At the same time, the grinding media particles should be substantially larger
than the largest pieces of material to be ground.
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Density: The media should be denser than the material being ground. It becomes a
problem if the grinding media floats on top of the material to be ground.
Hardness: The grinding media needs to be durable enough to grind the material, but
where possible should not be so tough that it also wears down the tumbler at a fast
pace.
Composition: Various grinding applications have special requirements. Some of
these requirements are based on the fact that some of the grinding media will be in
the finished product. Others are based in how the media will react with the material
being ground.
Where the color of the finished product is important, the color and material of the
grinding media must be considered.
Where low contamination is important, the grinding media may be selected for ease
of separation from the finished product (i.e.: steel dust produced from stainless steel
media can be magnetically separated from non-ferrous products). An alternative to
separation is to use media of the same material as the product being ground.
Flammable products have a tendency to become explosive in powder form. Steel
media may spark, becoming an ignition source for these products. Either wetgrinding, or non-sparking media such as ceramic or lead must be selected.
Some media, such as iron, may react with corrosive materials. For this
reason, stainless steel, ceramic, and flintgrinding media may each be used when
corrosive substances are present during grinding.
The grinding chamber can also be filled with an inert shield gas that does not react
with the material being ground, to prevent oxidation or explosive reactions that could
occur with ambient air inside the mill.
Advantages of the Ball Mill
Balling Milling boasts several advantages over other systems; the cost of installation,
power required and grinding medium is low; it is suitable for both batch and
continuous operation, similarly it is suitable for open as well as closed circuit grinding
and is applicable for materials of all degrees of hardness.
Varieties
Aside from common ball mills there is a second type of ball mill called planetary ball
mill. Planetary ball mills are smaller than common ball mills and mainly used in
laboratories for grinding sample material down to very small sizes. A planetary ball
mill consists of at least one grinding jar which is arranged eccentrically on a so-called
sun wheel. The direction of movement of the sun wheel is opposite to that of the
grinding jars (ratio: 1:-2 or 1:-1 or else). The grinding balls in the grinding jars are
subjected to superimposed rotational movements, the so-called Coriolis forces. The
difference in speeds between the balls and grinding jars produces an interaction
between frictional and impact forces, which releases high dynamic energies. The
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interplay between these forces produces the high and very effective degree of size
reduction of the planetary ball mill.

FLOATATION SECTION
Flotation, or more specifically froth flotation, is a physico-chemical method of
concentrating ground ores. The process involves chemical treatment of an ore pulp
to create conditions favorable for the attachment of pre-determined mineral particles
to air bubbles. The air bubbles carry the selected minerals to the surface of the pulp,
there forming a stabilized froth which is skimmed off and from which the predetermined mineral particles are recovered. Other minerals remain submerged in the
pulp, here the pgm,s are attached on the bubbles so frother , xanthate and
depressant are used in the process xanthate as a collecter , frother to stabilize the
bubbles and depressant to depress the unwanted materials
TASKS THAT I HAVE DONE ON THE FLASH FLOAT SECTION
I recorded the mass of the concentrate on the PID diagram in the control room
four times every each time the gate valve stops and we offloaded the final
concentrate in to the truck tank , I took the mass and closed the gate valve if
the concentrate gets high and after recording the first batch , I opened the
valve again on the PID for the concentrate to pass through
I measured the froth depth of each flash float cell on the primary rougher cells,
primary cleaners, secondary rougher cells and secondary cleaners using the
froth depther
I controlled the air valves on the float cells, either open or close whenever the
air was not enough or was too much
I controlled the butterfly valve of the flocculant which is used in the thickener
to conserve water , either to open or to close the valve to reduce the flow or to
increase it
Did house- keeping by hosing the spillages and started a spillage pump
I took densities of the thickener and that of the holding tank and reported to
the control room via a radio communicator

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Performance appraisal (scale 1-10)

Comments: Employer/Students
Quality of work
Quantity of work
Responsibility/Reliability
Theoretical knowledge
Practical skills acquired
Motivation
Communication skills
Human relations & work ethics
Initiative / Problem-solving
Report writing
Was the student absent from work during this period?
YES
NO
If Yes, number of days and dates absent:
If Yes, state reasons given:
If Yes, was a doctors certificate submitted (if/when required)? YES
NO

Page 8 of 9

Comments: TUT

Student
Employer:
Surname :
Rank:
Telephone:
WIL Coordinator:
Head of Department:

Signatures
Date:
Date:
OFFICIAL COMPANY STAMP/BUSSINESS CARD

Date:
Date:

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