MINERAL PROCESSING

COAL & NON-COAL MINERALS

by
Prof G.K.Pradhan
Professor of Mining Engineering & Dean,
Faculty of Engineering & Technology
AKS University
Sherganj, Panna Road, Satna(MP)

MINERAL PROCESSING
COAL & NON-COAL MINERALS

2018
MINTECH Publications
Bhubaneswar
© 2015 : Prof G.K.Pradhan
Professor of Mining Engineering
& Dean, Faculty of Engineering & Technology
AKS University, Sherganj, Panna Road, Satna (MP)

1
DRY-CUM-WET PROCESSING

2
WET CIRCUITADDED FOR FINES WASHING

.
\
\

WET PROCESSING OF IRON ORE

3
4
5
Introduction

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‘Mineral Processing’ is taught in Mining Engineering curricula along with Geology in Diploma and B.
Tech level courses. Besides, students of Geology and Applied Geology are also taught this subject.

As a teacher of ‘Mineral Processing’ at AKS University, I found the lectures by Prof P.Bandopadhyay,
Prof T.C.Rao which I had attended at ISM during my B.Tech program, quite beneficial. I now salute, Prof
T.C.Rao, an eminent Mineral Engineer, had pioneered several R&D initiatives at ISM and at
RRL(Bhopal).

The management of AKS University need special thanks for publishing this book and providing necessary
assistance through the deputation of Sri Alok Vishwakarma and Sri Ashish Khare to assist in the
compilation and editing etc. Sri A.Sahoo, Asst. Editor of The Indian Mining & Engineering Journal took

7
special care to ensure its printing at Bhubaneswar. Faculty members attached to the Department of Mining
Engineering, AKS University, also extended technical support during the compilation of the book. All
their support is duly acknowledged.

4th December 2017

Satna
Prof G.K.Pradhan
gkpradhan58@gmail.com

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. What constitutes mineral beneficiation?
3. Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy
4. Ores and Minerals 5
5. Mineral Classification 5
6. Run-Of-Mine Material and Minerals & Types of ROM 6
7. What constitutes Mineral Beneficiation ? 8
8. Liberation by Size Reduction
9. Minerals of equal abundance
10. Minerals of un-equal abundance
11. Liberation by detachment
12. Comminution
8
13. Objectives of Comminution
14. Difference between Crushing and Grinding
15. Size reduction/Comminution Process
16. Energy in Comminution
17. Von Rittinger’s Law, Kick’s Law , Bond’s Law
18. Operating Variables in Comminution
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.

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 INTRODUCTION

uu
Extraction of metal from natural resources commences with the
Mineral Beneficiation process. With depletion of high grade
metal ores it is important to increase the metal grade of an ore
by physical methods; which are termed mineral beneficiation.

Fig. 1 : Areas of Mineral Processing

The objectives of mineral beneficiation are
- To increase the metal grade of ore
- To reduce the amount of gangue minerals so that lower vol
ume of slag forms inpyrometal-
lurgical extraction of metals .Slag contains mostly gangue
minerals.
- To decrease the thermal energy required to separate liquid
metal from gangue minerals
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 - To decrease the aqueous solution requirement in hydromett
urgical extraction of metals

In case of Coal, beneficiation is essential to increase the

Calorific Value of Coal and also reduce percentage of mineral
matter (ex. ash etc) in coal.

In this book, mineral beneficiation science and technology are b

riefly reviewed so that readers can apply materials balance princ
iples. Details about the mineral beneficiation can be studied in
the reference given in this lecture.

What constitutes mineral beneficiation?

Ore is an aggregate of minerals and contains valuable and gangu
e minerals .The mineral beneficiation involves separations of ga
ngue minerals from ore and is done in the following two stages:

1. Liberation of valuable mineral by size reduction

technologies. In most ores the valuable minerals is
distributed in the matrix of ore. Fig.2, shows how
mineralogy influences mineral processing.

11
 Fig. 2 : Shows how mineralogy influences mineral
processing.
2. Concentration technologies to separate the gangue
minerals and to achieve increase in the content of the
valuable mineral to increase the metal grade.
Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy (Table 1)

Example of
Field Description
topics
Theory and practice of Crushing and
Beneficiation liberation of minerals from grinding,
or ores and their separation by magnetic and
Mineral physical methods at electrical
Dressing ambient conditions methods,
Mineral flotation, etc.
Processing Chemical methods
Leaching,
sometimes at high
precipitation,
Extractive temperature and pressure
electrolysis,
metallurgy for treating ores to recover
oxidation,
their metal values in a pure
reduction, etc.
form
Crystal structure,
effect of
Study of physical properties
Physical impurities,
of metals and alloys,
metallurgy metallography,
preparation of alloys
heat treatment,
Metal etc.
Processing
Engineering Processing of metals in the Casting, welding,
metallurgy molten state etc.
Forging, rolling,
Mechanical Processing of metals in the
extrusion,
metallurgy solid state
piercing

12
 Preparation of
Processing of metal
Powder metals in powder
powders into finished
metallurgy form, hot
products
pressing, etc.
Mineral processing is a major division in the science of Extractive Metallurgy. Extractive
metallurgy has been defined as the science and art of extracting metals from their ores,
refining them and preparing them for use.

Within extractive metallurgy, the major divisions in the order they may most commonly
occur are,

- Mineral Processing (or Beneficiation),

- Hydrometallurgy, Pyro-metallurgy, and
- Electrometallurgy.
The last steps in the winning of metals are in Physical Metallurgy where the composition and treatment of metals
are varied to provide desired physical and mechanical properties.

In mineral processing, a number of unit operations are required to prepare and classify ores before the valuable
constituents can be separated or concentrated and then forwarded on for use or further treatment. The field of mineral
processing has also been given other titles such as mineral dressing, ore dressing, mineral extraction, mineral
beneficiation, and mineral engineering. These terms are often used interchangeably. Disciplines related to ‘mineral
processing’ is better explained by Fig.3 :

Fig 3 : Unit operations and their relationship

Ores and Minerals

Ore is a term used to describe an aggregate of minerals from which a valuable constituent, especially a metal, can be
profitably mined and extracted. Most rock deposits contain metals or minerals, but when the concentration of
valuable minerals or metals is too low to justify mining, it is considered a waste or gangue material. Within an ore
body, valuable minerals are surrounded by gangue and it is the primary function of mineral processing, to liberate
and concentrate those valuable minerals.

Mineral Classification

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1. The classification of minerals based on anionic component of the chemical composition is –
a) Native form (ex. Copper, Gold, Silver, Diamonds, Bisumuth, precious stones)
b) Sulphides –(ex. Galena, Chalcopyrite)
c) Oxides (ex: Hematite, Cuprite, Rutile)
d) Hydroxides (ex: Gibbsite, bauxite, goethite, malachite)
e) Carbonates (ex: Siderites, Calcite, Magnesite)
f) Phosphates (ex: Apatite, Monazite)
g) Sulphates (ex. Gypsum, Barytes)
h) Silicates (ex: Quartz, Braunite, Zircon, Sillimanite)

2. Based on magnetic properties –

- Ferrous (Chromite, Iron, Manganese)
- Non-Ferrous (Antimony, Bauxite, Copper, Lead & Zinc, Platinum group metals etc).

Fig. 5: Stages of Mineral Processing

Run-of-Mine Material and Minerals

Generally, mineral processing begins when an ore is delivered from a mine, to a processing facility.
At this point, the ore iscalled run-of-mine material because there has been no treatment performed on it.

Types of ROM
There are three primary types of run-of-mine materials:

14
1. Run-of-mine consisting of useful materials. These could include granites, building sand, limestone, coal and
clays. Note that materials in this category are not classified as minerals.
2. Run-of-mine containing useful minerals. The minerals in this category among others include Fluorite, Apatite,
Diamonds and Gemstones, Vermiculite, Barite, Wollostonite and Chromite and are often referred to
as industrial minerals.
Other examples are –
i) Barite that is used as weighing agent in oil drilling mud and
ii) Vermiculite, which is used for sound and thermal insulation. The unit value of this class of
minerals is low but the purity is high, approaching a chemical grade. The minerals in this class
are used directly for industrial applications once they are separated from a gangue content that
must be low to start with. The low unit value only allows for marginal treatment costs.
3. Run-of-mine containing value bearing minerals. This class of run-of-mine is similar to the previous
descriptions. However in this case, the target mineral obtains its value from the contained metal and these
categories of deposits are referred to as metalliferrous.
For example, an ore containing the mineral chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) derives its value from the contained
copper. Chalcopyrite does not in and of itself have any direct use as a mineral. Once chalcopyrite is
concentrated (separated from the gangue), it requires further treatment to extract copper via chemical
(hydrometallurgical or pyro-metallurgicial) methods. A list of some valuable minerals is provided in Table 2.
Table 2: A list of some valuable minerals.
Metal Ore Mineral Chemical Formula Example
Aluminium Bauxite Al2O3·3H20 Mines of BALCO,
(from Alumina) Hindalco,NALCO, Utkal
Alumina
Chromium Chromite FeCr2O4 Mines of Sukinda
Copper Chalcopyrite CuFeS2,Cu2S,Cu5FeS4 Mines of Hindustan Copper
(Flotation) Chalcocite, Bornite mines at Khetri,
Malanjkhand & Mosabani
region
Diamond Panna Mines of NMDC Ltd
Iron Hematite,Magnetite Fe2O3Fe3O4 Bailadila Group of Mines
in Chattisgarh, Dalli-
Rajhara Group of Mines in
CG; Joda-Barbil in Odisha,
Barsua-Kalta in Odisha;
Noamundi-Kiriburu-Gua-
Manoharpur in Jharkhand;
Bellary-Hospet in
Karnataka; Raigarh-
Ratnagiri-Goa region.
Lead & Zinc Galena, Cerusite PbS,PbCO3 Mines of Hindustan Zinc
(Flotation) Ltd(HZL)- Rampura
Agucha, Dariba,SK Mines,
Magnesium Dolomite (Ca,Mg) CO3,MgCO3 Uttarakhand
Magnesite

Manganese Pyrolusite MnO2 MOIL mines in MP &

Maharastra; Mines in
Jharkhand and Odisha
Mercury Cinnabar HgS
Nickel Pentlandite (Fe,Ni)9S8 Found in the OB of
Chromite in Sukinda, India
Tin Cassiterite SnO2 Found in CG, Odisha
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 border areas
Titanium Ilmenite,Rutile FeTiO3TiO2 Beach sand mining &
beneficiation of M/s IRE
Ltd.
Tungsten Scheelite, CaWO4(Fe,Mn),WO4
Wolframite
Uranium Uraninite UO2 Mines of Uranium
Corporation of India Ltd.
Jaduguda, narwa Pahar,
Turamdih, Bandhuranga.
Andhra Pradesh
Zinc Sphalerite ZnS Mines of HZL

The general focus of this document will be on metaliferrous ores represented by run-of-mine material described in
category 3 above. An exception to the above discussion of mineral processing arises when the valuable component of
the ore is extracted directly by chemical methods. The most common and notable example of this are precious metal
values (gold, silver etc.) where the beneficiation process is applied directly on run-of-mine ores followed by the
extraction of gold and in some cases silver as a relatively pure metal within the mineral processing circuit.

Definitions
 Element
- A form of matter that cannot be broken down into simpler form by heating, cooling, or chemical
reactions
 Mineral
- Naturally occurring inorganic solids consisting of one or more elements in specific proportions
 Rock (ore)
- Naturally occurring aggregates or combinations of one or more minerals

What constitutes Mineral Beneficiation ?

Ore is an aggregate of minerals and contains valuable and gangue minerals. The mineral beneficiation involves
separation of gangue minerals from ore. It has three steps –

- Liberation - of valuable mineral by size reduction

- Separation - of coarse and fine particles , and
- Concentration - to separate the gangue minerals to increase the metal grade/content
If ‘liberation’ is not done correctly, all other subsequent operations will be incomplete.

Liberation

In order to separate the minerals from gangue (the waste minerals), it is necessary to crush and grind the rock to
unlock, or liberate, valuable minerals so that they are partially or fully exposed. This process of size reduction is
called comminution. The crushing and grinding process will produce a range of particles with varying degrees of
liberation (Figure6). Any particles that exceed a target size required for physical separation or chemical extraction
are returned to the crushing or the grinding circuit.

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 Figure 6. Breaking of larger material to smaller pieces result in particles with varying degrees of liberation.
The darker regions represent the valuable mineral

Liberation by detachment

If the ore lump is made of mineral grains bonded loosely, fracturing to the grain size results in complete liberation.
Ex : Pebble phosphate rock.
Liberation by Size Reduction
Consider a cube (10 cm dia) of the ore having MINERAL
and GANGUE.
Suppose it has cubic grains of 10 mm.

Assumptions
1. crushing is conducted to yield grains of the same
size.
2. crystals in the ore are intimately joined with each
other.
3.
Till the ore lump is crushed to 10 mm dia. all grains are
locked.
If the ore lump is crushed to particles of 5mm dia. some
grains are FREE and some are LOCKED.
It cannot be assumed that all particles are free since they
are of 5 mm dia (smaller than 10mm dia.)

Minerals of equal abundance

The cube is sectioned along a vertical plane. Visualise that
lattices with parameters 10mm and 5mm are superimposed with
their axes parallel.\
It appears that, in the plane of section, alternate rows ‘A’ and
‘C’ only have ;free looking’ particles. Other alternate rows ‘B’
and ‘D’ do not have them.

The free particles are 1,3,5,13,15,17. (they may be locked in

other planes). Free particles of mineral and gangue – 6 out of
48 (1/8) (and not 6 out of 24).
Thus, the Degree of liberation of each constituent – 3 out of 24
(1/8).
Even with heavy over grinding, particles cannot be liberated
completely. The crushed particles are obtained in the form of
LOCKED MIDDLINGS.

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Minerals of unequal abundance
The two constituents are not equally
abundant.
1. The less abundant mineral is not
free at all unless the particles are
finer than the grain size.
2. To free the less abundant mineral,
the particles must be made much
finer than the grain size. (Ex.
Bauxite, Diamond etc.)
3. The more abundant mineral is
always freer than the less abundant
mineral.

COMMINUTION

The comminution process actually begins during the mining stage through the use explosives, excavators or scrapers
for softer material. This is necessary in order to generate a material that is transportable by haul trucks or conveyors.
Minerals should be liberated before concentration. This liberation accomplished by comminution. Comminution in
the mineral processing plant is carried out in a sequential manner using crushers and screens followed by grinding
mills and classifiers. The various types of comminution equipment including their general application are described
below.

It is further classified as –
- Primary crushing (Ex: Jaw & Gyratory crusher having feed size from 3” to 30”)
- &
- Secondary crushing (Ex: Cone crusher & Roll crusher, having feed size 1.5” to 6.0”)

This operation involves reducing the raw ore to the size required for mechanical separation or metallurgical
processing. It is used for –
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 - Creating particles in a certain size and shape,
- Increasing the surface area available for next process.
- Liberating valuable minerals held within particles .

Comminution

Crushing Grinding
Objectives of Comminution
- Reduction of large lumps into smaller sizes,
- Production of solids of desired size ranges,
- Breaking apart valuable minerals from gangue (liberation of valuables),
- Convenience of handling the ore and its transportation,
- Preparation of feed material for different ore processing techniques(e.g. granular material for gravity
separation, fine particles for froth flotation etc.)
-
Difference between Crushing and Grinding (Table 3 & Fig.7)
Crushing (dry) – Size reduction occurs preferentially on large fragments,
Grinding (wet) – Size reduction is less selective – all pieces get ground to fine particles

Table 3 : Steps in Crushing & Grinding

Sl. No. Process Size reduction
Mining bench or face
1. Shattering by explosive Infinite size to 1 m.
in blasting
2. Mechanical cutting in continuous miner or Fixed size reduction
surface miner or by rock breaker
Ore Processing
3. Primary crushing 1m - 100mm
4. Secondary Crushing 100 mm – 10 mm
5. Coarse grinding 10mm – 1mm
6. Fine grinding 1 mm – 100 microns
7. Very fine grinding 100 microns – 10 microns
8. Superfine grinding 10 microns – 1 micron

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 Fig. 7 : Stages in Size reduction
Size reduction/Comminution Process

1. Extremely energy-intensive.
2. 5 % of all electricity generated is used in size reduction.
3. Efficiency of size reduction : 1 %
Blasting can be described as the first stage of communition carried out in the mine site in order to remove ores from
their natural beds.

Energy in Comminution

Energy utilisation (Energy theoretically needed for a particular degree of size reduction)
in comminution = (Energy actually consumed)

Actual energy consumed –

= power input to the mill

= to move the working parts with load+to overcome friction
= to grind away metal from the working face + for size reduction

A major part of the energy is lost as HEAT.

Free Particles – if the particles of the ore has single mineral.

Locked Particles – If there are two or more minerals.

Degree liberation – of a certain mineral is the percentage of that

mineral occurring as free particles with respect to the total of the
mineral occurring in the free and locked forms.

Degree of locking – of a mineral is the percentage occurring in locked

particles with respect to the total occurring in the free and locked
forms.

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Energy in Comminution
i) Very inefficient in creating new surface area (about 1 to 2 %)
ii Surface area is equivalent to surface energy
iii) Communition energy is 60-85% of all energy used.
iv) A number of energy ‘laws’ have been developed
v) Assumption – energy is power function of D
𝑑𝐸
= K . Dn
𝑑𝐷
where, dE = differential energy required,
dD =Change in a particle dimensions,
D = magnitude of a length dimension,
K=energy use/weight of material, and
n = exponent
Rittenger’s, Kick’s & Bond’s theories are used to evaluate any crushing
process.

1. Rittenger’s Law deals with the measurements of surface areas

2. Kick”s Law deals with volumes of product’s particle.
3. Bond’s Law deals with lengths of cracks formed.

Kick applies to coarse sizes(>10mm), Bond applies for < 100 𝜇𝑚.

It is impossible to estimate accurately the amount of energy required to

effect a size reduction of a given material because of ‘heterogeneous’
characteristics of ores and minerals.

Thus, a number of empirical laws have been proposed. The two earliest
laws are due to KICK & VON RITTINGER, and a third law due to
BOND has also been proposed.
Von Rittinger’s Law (1867)

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It states that the energy consumed in the size reduction is proportional to the
area of new surface produced.
1 1
E= K (𝐷 − D )
2 1

where, E- Energy input, D1- the initial particle size, D2 – the final particle size, and K – a
constant
1 1
E= 𝐾𝑟 𝐹𝑐 ( − )
𝐷𝑝 𝐷𝑓
Where, Kf - Rittinger’s Constant, fc – Crushing strength of the material, f-feed, p- product
Kick’s
Law (1885)
States that the work required is proportional to the reduction in volume
of the particles concerned. Energy required for producing a specified
reduction is proportional to the log of the reduction ratio.

𝐷𝑓
E = 𝐾𝑟 𝑓𝑐 log 𝑒 [𝐷 ]
𝑝

Kk – Kick’s constant, fc – Crushing strength of the material

It is based on the assumption that geometrically similar particles would
always break in geometrically similar manner, irrespective of the size.

Fig.8 : Breaking nature

Further, it can be simplified as – If ‘D’ is the diameter of the feed, and ‘d’ is the dia. of the final product, then ‘R’
D
reduction ratio is expressed as – 𝑅 = d
On the basis of Kick’s Law, Energy input ‘E’ thus becomes –

log R
E=
log 2

Bond’s Law(1952)

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Energy required of a crack expansion as it opens up. Bond has developed an equation which is based on the theory
that – the work input is proportional to the new crack tip length produced in particle breakage, and equals the work
represented by the product minus that represented by the feed.
The total work input (represented by a given weight of crushed or ground product) is inversely proportional to the
square root of the diameter of the product particles.

10𝑊𝑖 10𝑊𝑖
Work input (W) = −
√𝑃 √𝐹
Where, W = Work input in Kwh/short ton
Wi = Work index in Kwh/short ton
F = feed size in microns (d80)
P = product size in microns (d80)

Bond’s Law is applicable in rod and ball mill grinding operations. Particle size in the formula refers to as the size in
microns through which 80% of the particles passes.

Wi - Work index is defined as the kilowatt hours (kWh) required to reduce one ton of ore from infinite feed size to
80% passing 100 microns.

62
Wi = 0.23 10 10
𝑃1 (𝐺𝑏𝑝) 0.625 [ − ]
√𝑃 √𝐹
Where Wi = work index in Kwh/short ton
Pi = Test sieve in microns
Gbp = Grindability per mill revolution (net grams of material produced per mill revolution)
P = Product size in microns (d 80)
F = feed size in microns (d 80)

Fracture of the ore lump occurs by the extension of existing cracks. such cracks lower the activation energy of
fracture. This law also helps in ascertaining explosive energy consumed in any blasting operation.

Limitations of Communition Laws

The size and shape which can be determined by these methods is not very perfect. It is determined on the average
basis. The methods discussed above can’t measure the accurate area of the particles. So results may not be accurate.

It is very difficult to determine accurate area of the finer particles by these methods. There is no suitable method
available for determining the area of the fine particles.

Even if the above conditions are determined, the surface areas of cracks present in big particles would remain
unaccounted. If all the above conditions are considered then the area of the cracks which are present in the particles
can’t be calculated. It is the major drawback of the laws for calculating the area of the particle surface.

Operating Variables in Comminution

Comminution of the ROM ore is affected by 5 variables –

1. Moisture content of solids - Moisture < 3-4 % by weight no difficulties encountered. Moisture content
in excess of 4 % by weight makes the ore sticky, and clogs the machines. When moisture
percentage exceeds 50% by weight it becomes easy to feed and remove product from the size reduction
area. Size reduced minerals are easily transported as slurry. In case of grinding, it is done usually in
wet condition.
2. Reduction ratio (RR) Average diameter of the feed/average diameter of the product. In primary crushers,
RR – Gape/Set.
23
Gape – Size of the receiving opening (max. size acceptable in the machine).
Set – Size of discharging opening (max. size passing through the discharge end).

Normal RR = 3 – 7 for coarse crushing

= as high as 100 for fine grinding
Energy consumption is influenced by increase in RR value.

Fig. 9, Double-toggle Jaw Crusher

Width of Jaw : > 1.3 gape, < 3.0 x gape Throw : = 0.0502 (Gape)0.45

3. Free crushing - Individual particles are crushed freely. The crushed product is
removed from crushing zone quickly. It avoids formation of excessive amounts of
‘fines’ (the number of contacts are less, hence less crushing).
4. Choke feeding - It is the reverse of Free crushing. The feed hopper of the crusher is
always full (choked). It prevents complete discharge of the crushed products. It also increases the
amount of ‘fines’. This manner of feeding is preferred when process becomes more
economical (one or more intermediate crushing stages can be dispensed with).
5. Closed/open circuit operations (Fig.10) - Oversized material is returned to the size reduction unit for further
reduction after sizing - is in Closed circuit – more economical, more uniform product. If no material is returned this
is termed as open circuit.

Fig. 10, Close Circuit

Liberation and Communition

Sizes reduction technologies

Size reduction or communition is an important step and may be used –
- To produce particles of required sizes and shapes
24
 - To liberate valuable mineral so that it can be concentrated.
- To increase the surface area available for chemical reaction.
- It is often said that the efficiency of energy utilization during fragmentation of solid particles is only
about 1% with respect to the new surface created . Energy consumption represents major cost in the
mineral processing operation.

Crushing and grinding are size reduction methods. Crushing is applied to subsequent size reduction down to about 2
5mm. In grinding finer size is produced. Grinding or milling is an important size reduction method. In grinding force
is applied by a medium which could either balls or rod.Both dry and wet grinding is done Wet grinding has the follo
wing characteristics.
- It requires less power.
- It does not need dust central equipment.
- Wet grinding uses more steel grinding media to mill the material/per ton of product, as a result there
occurs increase in erosion of the lining material.
- Water is required for wet grinding.
Material balance is important to determine
- Amount of water in a milling circuit
- % solid in slurry (slurry is a mixture of solid in water) Both information are needed to determine the
pump capacity to transport slurry.

In wet milling water /solid ratio is important to control the viscosity of slurry .Too dilute slurry will lead to excessive
wear of the medium .Too high a solid concentration results in cushioning of the medium.

Percent solid in slurry can be determined by - Eqn 1 :

% Solid in slurry = {100 density of solid (density of slurry – 100)/{density of slurry(density of solid -
1000)}

For example,
- if ρ of solid is 3000 kg/CM3; and
Density of slurry is 1500 Kg/M3, then slurry contains 33.3% solid according to equation 1.

Wet milling gives the following advantages:

• Less power requirement
• Required pollution as compared with dry milling. After wet milling the milled product is classified by a
hydro cyclone in to undersize (also termed underflow) and oversize (overflow). The overflow is taken to the
plant for concentration operation, for example flotation.
The undersize is recirculated after milling in a ball mill for further separation .

Concentration technologies: Basics

The objectives of concentration technologies is to separate the valuable mineral from the gangue
minerals.
In all concentration methods feed is divided in three streams, namely concentrate, middling and tailings.Middlings ar
e recycled within the plant and as such the plant output is two products, namely concentrate and tailings. Tailings ar
e disposed whereas concentrate is sent to metal extraction.

Plants Recovery and grade :

25
Recovery of the mineral in the concentrate and metal grade of the concentrate are important .Recovery is defined as

Recovery = 100*(amount of valuable mineral in concentrate/amount of feed)

Grade of the concentrate can be defined either mineral grade or metal grade. Since concentrate isemployed for metal
extraction, metal grade is important (Note that concentrate contains mineral but not metal).

Metal grade = amount of metal content in concentrate/amount of concentrate)*100

Metal grade means grade of valuable metal of the mineral in the concentrate. For example in the concentrate of chalc
opyrite the grade of Cuis important. Similarly in the concentrate of galena,the grade of Pb is
important. It must be clearly understood that ore does not contain metal. Metal grade is used to give an
idea about the removal of gangue minerals and removal of oxygen or sulphur.

Example, mineral grade of pure is unity but metal grade (orFe grade) of pure mineral is 70% whi-
ch means 30% oxygen has to be removed to get iron.

CRUSHING THEORIES

Crystal structure is bound together by its inter-atomic forces of

attraction. Disruption of these bonds needs stress = theoretical
strength of the crystal.
Theoretical strength of a crystal = 7 X 104 Kg/cm2.

When the applied tensile load exceeds the elastic limit, a flaw (
defect ) is produced in the crystal. The stress which the crystal
can withstand depends on the length of the crack

( σ ( √ length of crack ) – Griffith’s Law)

i.e., the product of the square root of the flaw length (a) and the
stress at fracture (σf) was nearly constant, i.e, fracture occurs at
a much lower stress loading in the presence of a crack.

Once sufficient energy is given, the crack propagates very fast

(5000 m/sec).Most ROM (run of mines) ores have such fine
cracks. So crack propagation becomes very easy at lower
26
crushing loads. There is a critical value for the crack length at
any particular level of stress . Now, the increased stress level at
the crack tip is sufficient to break the atomic bond at that point.
Such rupture of the bond will increase the crack length. It
increases the stress concentration and causes a rapid
propagation of the crack through the matrix. This leads to final
fracture. When fracture occurs, some of the stored energy is
transformed into free surface energy ( the potential energy of
atoms at the newly produced surfaces ).

Reduction Ratio in Crushing

- for comparing the
performance of various

crushing machine- Max. size

of the particles in the Feed /
max. size of particles in the product. Crushing occurs due to one
or a mixture of the disruptive forces.

27
Mechanism of Crushing
Compression /Shear.
Crushing results from stresses that are applied to the
particles to be crushed. Crushing is done by a moving
part, working against a stationary / another moving part.
The stresses setup strains within the particle.

28
When the strain exceeds elastic limit, the lump fractures
along principle shear stresses into large and fine particles.
If the crushing force is not sufficient, no crushing occurs.
The material may deform.
THAT IS THE REASON TO USE RUGGED, MASSIVE CRUSHERS IN MINERAL DRESSING.

The best method to cause rapture in solid materials is the application of

shearing loads.

The orientation of crystals in ores is generally irregular. So, compressive force is sufficient. The SIZE REDUCERS
AS CRUSHERS USE COMPRESSION, SHEAR OR BOTH AS FRACTURING FORCES.

PRIMARY CRUSHING

Primary Crushing
Reduction of ore = as mined size ~1m to ~ 100 mm size. The objects of crushing are –
1) size reduction
2) production of a minimum amount of fines.

Primary crushing is done on dry material. The basic equipments for primary crushing-

Jaw crushers Gyratory crusher

1) Jaw crushers.
2) Gyratory crushers.
3) Roll crushers.

Crushing Equipment

Primary Crushers – Jaw and Gyratory

29
Within the crushing circuit, a primary crusher reduces
material down to a size that can be conveyed and fed to
the secondary crushing circuit. The two most common
primary crushers used for coarse run-of-mine material are
the jaw and gyratory crushers. These primary crushers
break rock through compressive forces created by a hard
moving surface forcing and squeezing the rocks towards a
hard stationary surface.

A Jaw Crusher reduces large rocks by dropping them

into a flat “V” shaped space created between a fixed
surface and a movable surface. The compression is created
by forcing the rock against the stationary plate as shown
in figure 3. The opening at the bottom of the jaw plates is
the crusher product size gap. The rocks remain in the jaws
until it is small enough to pass through this adjustable gap
at the bottom of the jaws. In a gyratory crusher, a round
moving crushing surface is located within a round hard
shell which serves as the stationary surface (figure 3). The
crushing action is created by the closing the gap between
the hard crushing surface attached to the spindle and the
concave liners (fixed) mounted on the main frame of the
crusher. The gap is opened and closed by an eccentric
drive on the bottom of the spindle that causes the central
vertical spindle to gyrate.

30
 Figure 3. Primary and secondary crusher

Construction features of a Jaw Crusher

It has two crushing faces - JAWS. The jaws are made of cast steel. They are fitted with replaceable liners made of
manganese steel or Ni-hard (a Ni-Cr alloyed cast iron). They are mounted on a rigid frame. One jaw is stationary, the
other is movable. It moves towards and away from the stationary jaw by a small throw.

The feed ore is squeezed till it breaks. The fragments move down to a narrow part of the wedge.
They get squeezed repeatedly. The final products escape through the narrow gap at the bottom.

Jaw crushers are classified based on

1) the point of minimum amplitude of motion on the moving face,
2) the way of transmitting the movement to the immovable face.

Factors Influencing the Operation of a Jaw Crusher

1.The reduction ratio ( Gape / Set)

2.Speed and amplitude of strokes and movable jaw.
31
3.Size distribution of feed.
4.Crushing properties of ore (Crushing Laws-Rittinger’s,
Kick’s, Bonds Law) – Hardness, Density

Capacity of a Jaw Crusher -

T ( Tones/ hr) = 3.75 LS.
where, L- Length of feed opening ( cm).
S- Length of set opening ( cm) .
Energy Requirements of A Jaw Crusher

Depend on Size of the feed, Size of the product, Capacity of the

crusher, Characteristics of the ore, Percentage idling time etc.

A Double Toggle Jaw Crusher

2. Telsmith Jaw Crusher

It is similar to the Blake Jaw Crusher with respect to the motion of the movable jaw. It differs from the Blake Jaw
crusher in the way the motion is transmitted. The motion is transmitted to the movable jaw directly from an eccentric
on the main shaft. No toggles / pitman are used. The machine is very large in size.

32
 3. Dodge Jaw Crusher
Here the Jaw action is reverse to that of the Blake Jaw crusher. Maximum crushing is given to the largest piece and
minimum to the smallest. The fulcrum is at the lower end of the movable jaw. Only a small variation of SET occurs
on the advancing and receding actions of the movable jaw. The jaw is operated through an eccentric (Crusher has
fewer parts) Advantage- constant discharge opening. More uniform product size. Disadvantage- stresses are uneven.
Used mainly for laboratory applications.

Characteristics of Jaw and Gyratory Crusher

Sl. Characteristics Jaw Crusher Gyratory Crusher
No.
33
1. Working Principle Intermittent continuous. Continuous, breaks
Breaks material with its the material all the
whole surface only half time. Uniform
the time. Half of the transmission of
revolution is heavily Energy.
stressed – the other half is
relaxed(needs very sturdy
construction). Heavy
flywheels and high
speeds of rotation are
favourable for efficient
operation.
2. Taper (decrease of width Less taper More taper (35-40
between the movable and cm/m)
fixed crushing
surfaced/meter(or cm) of
depth should be enough to
hold the ROM ore
properly.
3. Capacity Lesser high
4. Reduction ratio (4:1 – 7:1) Same
5. Type of material crushed Soft, clayey Greater
6. Type of feed Free feed (ROM) Free feed (ROM)
7. Gape length 84-120 in. Hard and brittle
8. Product size normally coarse Choke feed 72 in.
average range

Jaw crusher is the better choice because of:

1. Jaw crusher can take larger size than gyratory & is better
adopted to handle clayey & spongy rocks.
2. Gyartory crusher consume more power for the same feed as
produces more new surfaces than jaw crusher.
3-Installation and housing costs will be more compared to jaw
crushers.
34
GYRATORY CRUSHER

35
 SUSPENDED SPINDLE GYRATORY
CRUSHER . It has

1) An outer frame. The crusher has

two vertical, truncated conical shells.

2) The frame has a wearing surface

(concave ).

3) The inner crushing head is

4) Mounted on a spindle.

5) The spindle gyrates from a fixed fulcrum at the point of suspension.

6) This movement is effected by an eccentric sleeve.

7) The sleeve is attached to a gear and is rotated by a horizontal shaft .

Suspended spindle gyratory crusher

When the crusher is unloaded, the spindle is free to rotate. When the feed is given, it is seized between the head and
the concave. Now rotation stops. Gyration is the ONLY motion that causes
the head to approach to and recede from the concave surface. The pressure exerted on the material in the gap. The
feed is crushed and it passes through the crusher. The differential dilation in the cross section of the machine ‘does
not allow CHOKING’ .
36
The crusher gives good FREE CRUSHING.

SUSPENDED SPINDLE GYRATORY CRUSHER

They work smoothly and continuously.

Larger pieces ( ~ 2 m) can be crushed to finer sizes ( ~ 30 cm ) . Capacity ~ 5000 T / hr.

SECONDARY CRUSHING
Secondary Crushing is done to reduce the ore size suitable for (wet)
grinding. The feed size will be less than 150 mm avg. dia & product
size – 12 mm av.dia.

The crushing machine does not have wider GAPE and very sturdy
construction. Secondary crushers are arranged in series with the
primary crushers. Equipments- CONE CRUSHER, ROLL CRUSHER,
GRAVITY STAMPS etc.

37
Secondary crushers are arranged in series with the primary crushers.

Secondary Crushers
Cone Crusher
The most common type of secondary crusher is the cone crusher. A
cone crusher is very similar to the gyratory but has a much shorter
spindle with a larger diameter crushing surface relative to its the
vertical dimension. The eccentric motion of the inner crushing cone is
similar to that of the gyratory crusher.
38
Impact Crushers
Impact crushers involve the use of high speed impact rather than
compresssion to crush material.
They utilize hinged or fixed heavy metal hammers or bars attached to
the edges of horizontal rotating disks. The bars repeatedly strike the
material to be crushed. Then the material is thrown against a rugged
solid surface which further degrades the particle size. Finally, the
material is forced over a discharge grate or screen by the hammers
through which the finer particles drop while larger particles are swept
around for another crushing cycle until they are fine enough to fall
through a discharge grid. This type of crusher is normally used on soft
materials such as coal or limestone due to the high wear experienced by
the impact hammers, bars and inner surfaces. These crushers are
normally employed for secondary or tertiary crushing.

Roll Crushers

Rolls crushers consists of a pair of horizontal cylindrical rollers

through which material is passed. The two rollers rotate in opposite
directions nipping and crushing material between them. These types of
crushers are used in secondary or tertiary crushing applications. They
are seeing a significant increase in use due to advances in their design
and the improved liberation of minerals in the crushed product.

39
 Figure 4. Elements of a rolls and an impact crusher

Cone crushers
1. Cone crusher is secondary crusher.
2. Product of cone crusher is the feed of grinding
mill.
3. It work in closed circuit with double deck screen.
4. Product is more uniform in size .

Merits of
cone
40
crusher over gyratory

. 1. Cone crusher moves faster than gyratory.

2. Rapid discharge of crushed material due to increase
space from top to bottom.
3. Higher capacity and reduction ratio than gyratory
crushers.
4. Work in closed circuit.
Examples : Symon Cone Crusher ( 1920 ).

Similar in operation to a gyratory crusher. The important parts are - Spindle, Inner Cone ( Crushing Head),
Inverted,Truncated Cone (Hopper- Bowl). Breaks rock by squeezing the rock between an eccentrically gyrating
spindle and the hopper. The spindle is covered by a wear resistant mantle. It is supported in a universal bearing
below the crushing head ( and not suspended). The enclosing concave hopper is covered by a manganese bowl liner.
Rock enters the top of the cone crusher. It becomes wedged and squeezed between the crushing head and the hopper.
Large pieces of ore are broken once. They fall to

41
a lower position (because they are now smaller) where they are broken again. This process continues until the pieces
are small enough to fall through the narrow opening at the bottom of the crusher.

Sl. No. Gyratory Crusher Cone Crusher

1. Crushing results from interaction between spindle, Same
crushing head and bowl
2. The outer stationary crushing surface flares outwards – Flares inwards
increased area of discharge
3. The outer stationary crushing surface is held in position Not available
with a nest of heavy springs. When an uncrushable
material enters, the outer crushing plate gets lifted from
the lower surface and prevents fracture of the
plate/damage to the unit . (Overload protectrion)

Advantages-

•A cone crusher is suitable for crushing a variety of mid-hard and above mid-hard ores and rocks.

•It has the advantage of reliable construction, high productivity, easy adjustment and lower operational costs.

•Operated in OPEN CIRCUIT- Can be fitted with fine, medium, coarse or extra coarse crushing cavities. Speedier
crushing ( 450-700 rpm ) . Reduction ratio – 3:1- 7:1.

ROLL CRUSHER
1-Used for crushing relatively soft materials like coal & salt.
42
2-Capacity is high and reduction ratio is large.
3-Can not produce fine product owing to the spacing between
adjacent teeth.

Roll Crushers ( 1806 ) .

It has two heavy cylinders. They are mounted horizontally.
They revolve in opposite directions. The rolls are driven
independently. The feed is NIPPED and PULLED through the
rolls by FRICTION.

Steel liners are provided on the rolls to avoid their damage

wear. Reduction ratio is small – 3:1 – 4:1 ( since very large dia
rolls cannot be made). Only small proportions of fines are
produced.
Better size uniformity is achieved.
Roll Crushers

The rolls draw the ore lumps into the gap and crush between the roller faces by NIPPING
(snatching up hastily ).
For a given dia. of the rolls and SET (distance between rolls), there is a maximum size of ore lump that can be drawn
in. In selecting the rolls, the sizes of the feed and product should be known. This can be computed based on the
friction between the material crushed and the rolls.

43
Roll Crusher Angle of Nip

A spherical particle of dia ‘d’ is positioned for crushing between

two rolls of dia ‘D’.
Gravity is not considered.
Forces acting on the particle – at the point of contact with rolls
1) normal force Fn,
2) tangential force Ft - Resultant of the two - Fr

Angle of nip is defined as the angle between the two tangents

drawn on the rolls at the points of contact of the particle with
rolls.

If Fr is negative w.r.t the horizontal (directed downward)- particle is nipped & crushed.

If Fr is positive, particle will ride in the trough formed by the rolls & will not be crushed.

‘a’ Angle of Nip. – Above this the particle is seized. Above this the particle skids.

S- ‘set’ – distance apart of the roll faces at the point of their nearest approach..

44
Coefficient of friction Ft/Fn.

Vertical component of Ft – Ft cos (a/2). Vertical component of Fn- Fn sin ( a/2).

Under limiting conditions,

Fn sin ( a/2) = Ft cos (a/2). i.e., tan a /2 = Ft/Fn. a= angle of nip.

Ft/Fn- Coe. of friction φ .

Condition To Ensure Nip – tan (a/2 )</= φ.
Cos a/2 = [( D/2) + ( S/2)] / [ ( D/2) + ( d/2)] = ( D+S ) / ( D+d ).
Max size of ore lump in relation to roll dia.(Coefficient of friction assumed- 0.3)

Roll dia (cm.) 22.5 30 60 90 120 180

Max size
of ore 0.9 1.2 2.4 3.0 4.8 7.2
gripped(cm.)

Roll Crushers- Method of Feeding

The feed should be spread evenly.

Rolls can be fed “Free” or “Choked”.
Choke feeding is more efficient – higher crushing capacity.
reduced wear of rolls ( ore -on-ore grinding occurs).

Capacity of Roll Crusher.

C ( tonnes / hr ) = 60 V L S ρ V = Peripheral speed ( m/mt).
L = Width of the rolls ( m). S = Distance between rolls ( m ).
ρ = Sp.Gravity of ore. C ~ 10-35%.

Theoretically when S=0, C=0. Actually, C will be larger as choked feeding occurs and roll faces are held apart.

Another secondary crusher is toothed roll crusher. Other crushing machines are

• Impact crusher. • Gyra-disc crusher. • Hammer mill.

• Gravity stamps. • Squirrel cage disintegrator • Disk crusher.

45
 Comparison between roll & cone crushers

1. Roll crusher production smaller of fines than cone

crushers and smaller reduction ratio.
2. Rolls, because of their inability to yield high reduction
ratio, have not been installed in recent years.
3. Reduction ratio for rolls should not exceed similar to
cone crushers.
4. Rolls remain to be the best device for intermediate
crushing.

Calculate the capacity of a Rolls Crusher :

It depends on the dia. of the rolls, size of the feed material, specific gravity of the material fed, set point, and speed of
the rolls.
Capacity = 188.5 NDWsd kg/Hr.

where,
N = Speed of the rolls (rpm) D = Dia. of the rolls (in m)
d = Distance between the rolls in m. s = Specific gravity of the feed material, and
W = Width of the rolls in m.

However, the actual capacity is around 25% of the theoretical capacity because of heterogeneous nature of the feed
material.

46
 GRINDING

Breaking down of relatively COARSE CRUSHED ore to

ULTIMATE FINENESS. The fineness of the ground product
depends on the subsequent mineral beneficiation operations.
Theoretically, particles should be broken down till every
particle is fully mineral (valuable) or gangue.

For this, fracture should be along boundaries (detachment)

between valuables and gangue.It is not possible in practice.
Hence, grinding should produce finer particles for satisfactory
CONCENTRATION.

LIBERATION of the mineral is to reduce the size of the particle

till – individual particles are rich, the size obtained responds to
subsequent concentration process.

Objectives : Grinding produces new surfaces & provides

specified sizes. Different concentration methods need different
sizes of feed.

Concentration methods need any of the following grinding

preparations.

For gravity/magnetic/electrostatic concentration - the feed

should be coarse, over grinding and slime should be avoided.
47
For froth flotation - upper limit of particles 200-300 μs, lower
limit – 5-10 μs .

For chemical treatment- ( leaching ) – over grinding improves

the recovery ( constituent to be dissolved should be exposed to
the surface of the particles) , cost will be high.

Types of Grinding

Depends upon the

• ore. • quantity of ore to be ground. • use of the

ground product. Methods

• Batch or continuous grinding. • Differential grinding. •

Dry and wet grinding.

• Open circuit or closed circuit grinding. • Primary and

secondary grinding ( stage grinding ).

Let us now, understand the breakage mechanism. (explained

below) -

48
1. Impact or Compression – Forces applied normally.
2. Chipping – Forces applied obliquely,
3. Abrasion – Forces applied Parallel
Regardless of the mechanism involved, in any fracture process
the particle must be raised to a state of strain which will initiate
the propagation of fracture cracks. In order to create this state of
strain, energy greater than or equal to the stored strain energy of
the particle must be supplied.
The factors that decide how much energy is required to
overcome this stored energy are :

a) Presence of pre-existing cracks or flaws,

b) Degree of plastic flow in the solid vs. complete brittleness.

In most mills, the forces which act on a particle to create

fracture can occur through one or more of several means, which
include :

a) Collision between particles,

b) Pressure loading on the particles,
c) Shear and abrasion by particles falling through the grinding
media,
d) Impact of falling media on particles,
e) Shock transmitted through a crop load, or packed bed.

Factors governing the required Energy are

1) Efficient conversion of input energy to mechanical action.

49
2) Efficient transfer of the mechanical action to the particle
3) Matching the stress produced by the mechanical action to
the failure stress of the particles.

Most of the input energy is lost as noise, heat and deformation

of the ore lumps. Only a small quantity is useful in creating new
surfaces i.e, grinding occurs.

Batch Grinding

A definite quantity of the feed is ground for a pre-determined

time. The ground material is removed from the mill. The
50
grinding media will remain in the mill. Second batch is loaded
for grinding and the operation continues.

Tumbling mills are used. Any shape of particle (cylindrical,

cylindroconical, oval, polygonal, cubic etc) can be used in the
feed. Inefficient, more product is over ground. Used mainly for
laboratory testing of ores, making paint mixtures, medicines etc.

Continuous Grinding

Ore is fed into the mill continuously at a fixed rate. Product is

discharged after a suitable dwelling time. Meanwhile new feed
is charged. Continuous grinding is preferred in Mineral
Dressing operations.

Differential Grinding

Ores and minerals vary in their relative grindabilities. Softer

material may be ground finer and harder material coarser, if
they co – exist. This differential action is increased in closed
circuit grinding.

Dry And Wet Grinding

Material is ground either in totally dry or wet ( slurry )
condition. Grinding in moist / sticky state consumes lot of
energy – grinding should not be done in this state. Dry grinding
– when subsequent concentration process is dry ( concentrating
ores of Cr, Au, Pb, Mn, Mo, coal..). Wet Grinding – Normally

51
used in mineral dressing ( subsequent concentration processes -
flotation, leaching etc are wet processes ).
Dry Grinding Wet Grinding
1.Feed material should have low ( 1.Needs less power.
< 1 % ) moisture content. 2.Needs less space.
2.The feed should be in less 3.Minimum dust
contact with air ( it may absorb control only needed.
moisture during grinding ). 4.Needs large
3.The grinding media and the liner quantities of water
inside the mill should not wear off. and good ,
4.Costly filtering equipments are continuous pumping
not needed. system.
5.Dust control during grinding is 5.Generally cheaper
needed. than a dry grinding
installation.

Primary And Secondary Grinding

Grinding can be done in stages – primary and secondary.
Primary mills work faster and shatter the feed. Secondary mills
work gently and uniformly finer products are formed.

OPEN CIRCUIT GRINDING

The mill grinds the feed to desired size in one pass and removes
the product to receive the next feed. It needs more power. Needs
skilled operator. Used normally - for coarse grinding, when
closed circuit grinding becomes very costly.

CLOSED CIRCUIT GRINDING

52
Mostly used in Mineral Dressing. The mill discharge is sized.
Oversize particles are reground. This cycle repeats till all
particles are of same size. During regrinding of oversize, new
material is also fed to the grinder. Need of less skilled operators
- reduced cost.

Tumbling Mills
The mill with a liner is half filled with the crushing bodies. Ore
is fed at one end of the mill along with required quantity of
water. Now the mill contains the feed +water + grinding media (
Crop feed / mill charge ). The ground product is discharged at
the other end. The water flushes the feed through the mill. When
the mill is rotated, the feed, water and the grinding media is
CHURNED with FLYING ( TUMBLE ). Grinding of the feed
occurs The Kinetic Energy of the tumbling load is dissipated as
grinding of feed, wearing the mill lining and the media, heat and
noise. The KE is usefully used for
1.Collision between particles,
2.Impact of falling grinding media,
3.Pressure loading ore particles that come under the grinding
media or between the grinding media and the mill liner ,

4.Shock waves transmitted when the media tumble.

53
Tumbling Mill Liners

Lined with replaceable liners made of alloy steel, rubber or

ceramic materials.They may be smooth, ship-slap , wave or
wedge bar type. Liners help in lifting the load as the mill
revolves, to minimise the slip between layers of the grinding
media and to minimise wear of the mill shell.

Tumbling Mill Capacity

54
 Factors influencing – specifications of the pulp (slurry – size of solid
particles), size of the ground particles. To obtain maximum mill
capacity several variables in groups are considered.
(a) Group I - Mill length/mill diameter, % mill volume having
the CROP LOAD (CHARGE-ore + water + grinding media ), Number
of stages – These variables will change wear of liners and grinding
media.
(b) Group II - Grinding media size ratio, size of new feed, solid
to liquid ratio in the mill – They can be maintained constant during the
grinding operation.
(c) Group III - Circulating load, dwelling time of the material in
the mill, feed rate – they affect capacity.

Tumbling Mill - Grinding Media

Grinding occurs during tumbling action of the mill.

The media used –
Steel balls of varying sizes – 25 – 125 mm dia. They
are made of Hadfield ( Mn ) steel, Cr steels, Cr-Mo
steels. WC ( Tungsten Carbide ) / ceramic balls are
also used – Costly but long life.
Large pieces of ore are used as grinding medium in
Autogenous grinding. Tumbling mills Ball mill,
Pebble mill, Rod mill, Autogenous / Semi
autogenous mills.
BALL MILL

55
They are rotating cylinders with liner and grinding balls
inside. Grinding medium - steel / iron / WC balls. They
are continuous machines (4-20 rpm). Crushed ore is fed in
one end through a feeder. The balls fall back onto the feed
during rotation of the shell. Ground ore is discharged at
the other end or through the periphery .
They are used in closed system for maximum efficiency.
Classified according to
(a) shape (cylindrical, cylindro-conical),
(b) method of discharging ground material (overflow
discharge, grate / diaphragm discharge) or
(c) method of grinding ( wet or dry). The mills have a
shell and lining inside. They are fitted to a frame at the
ends using trunions.

Theory of Ball Milling (Zones in A Ball Mill)

The path of the balls – circular section (when balls are lifted) +
parabolic / near parabolic section (when the balls are dropped).
Consider a ball at a distance ‘r’ from the center of the mill
revolving at ‘n’ rpm . The ball leaves the circular path for a
parabolic path when the centripetal component of gravity
exceeds the centrifugal component of angular acceleration. i.e,
when, (MV2 )/R = Mgcos α --------- (1)

56
 M - mass of the ball, V – its linear velocity, R – radius of the mill , g –
acceleration due to gravity.
Path of a typical ball Forces acting

on the ball at a distance ‘r’ from the center of the mill.

Theory of Ball Milling

But, V = 2πR n
cosα = MV2/RMg = 4π2n2R/g…. (2)

The locus of the points ‘E’ represents the beginning of the PARABOLIC PATH for different positions of the balls
from the center to the periphery (OBA) .
β = 3 α.
From this, the locus of the points ‘F’ representing the end of the parabolic path is DCO.
CO and BO correspond to ‘unstable equilibrium’.
So, zone BM’C is a dead zone – no effective motion occurs here.

There are 4 zones inside a ball mill – Dead zone, Empty Zone, Abrasion Zone & Impact Zone

57
1.an empty zone , 2.a dead zone, 3.a zone of circular path
and 4.a zone of parabolic path.
Crushing should take place along CD and nowhere else
(Davis) It is NOT TRUE.

1.Crushing ALSO occurs when the balls roll on each other

by slippage
between ball
layers. 2.Crushing
ALSO occurs by
attrition
between the
balls.
58
Balls Inside A Ball Mill
Balls range in size from 1-6 “.
They are made of cast iron, forged steel or alloy steel. Larger balls help in coarse grinding

CYLINDRICAL MILL
59
Not commonly used. The shell has cylindrical shape. The length of the
cylinder = diameter of the mill. Three types depending on the discharge
of the ground material.
1. Peripheral discharge ( central or peripheral ) mill - Discharge
through screens in the cylindrical shell . Eg: Krupp mill. The screen
wear is high and hence expensive.
2. Free Over flow mill- Simplest design. The ground material is
discharged as overflow from the exit end of the mill, through Trunnion.
Operates wet.
3.Grate ( diaphragm ) mill – The discharge end has grates.

Cylindrical Mill

60
Overflow type ball mill also has a spiral inside the discharging end.

The direction of the spiral is opposite to the running direction of cylinder body, which can prevent steel balls and
ores from being discharged out of ball mill.

ROD MILL

ROD MILL It is a tumbling mill having a rotating cylindrical shell. 75-

100 mm dia steel rods are the grinding media. They are laid parallel to
one another. They cover the length of the mill. Size reduction of the ore
is by line of contact between rods. The rods are kept apart by coarse
particles. This causes preferential grinding of coarser particles. The
mill is longer than its diameter – avoids jamming of the rods.

Rod mills produce minimum

fines ( Ball mills produce more
fines). The ground product is concentrated by gravity or magnetic
methods ( Finer ball bill products are concentrated by flotation method
) . Discharge can be- overflow discharge, end peripheral discharge or
61
center peripheral discharge. The rods used wear fast and need
replacement often.

PEBBLE MILLS Cylindrical mills with porcelain / rubber linings. Grinding medium- porcelain pebbles.

When pebbles of same ore are used to grind- autogenous grinding. Used for secondary grinding. It avoids
contamination by iron linings. Liberation action is gentle. Less power consumption. There are two types

1.
Tube
mill
and

62
 2. Cascade and aerofall mill.

AUTOGENOUS GRINDING MILL SAG

They are so-called due to the self-grinding of the ore. A rotating drum throws larger rocks of ore in a cascading
motion.It causes impact breakage of larger rocks and compressive grinding of finer particles. Eg HADSEL MILL

SEMI AUTOGENOUS GRINDING MILL - SAG

SAG mills utilize grinding balls to aid in grinding like in a ball mill. It is generally used as a primary or first stage
grinding solution. SAG mills use a ball charge of 8 to 21%. Attrition between grinding balls and ore particles causes
grinding of finer particles. SAG mills are characterized by their large diameter and short length as compared to ball
mills. The inside of the mill is lined with lifting plates to lift the material inside the mill, where it then falls off the
plates onto the rest of the ore charge. SAG mills are primarily used at gold, copper and platinum mines with
applications also in the lead, zinc, silver, alumina and nickel industries. The largest SAG mill is 42' in diameter,
powered by a 28 MW (38,000 HP) motor

FACTORS AFFECTING OPERATION OF A GRINDING MILL-

1.SPEED OF THE MILL. Affects grinding efficiency and capacity. If the

peripheral speed of the mill is very high i.e., > critical speed, it begins to act like
a centrifuge and the balls do not fall back, but stay on the perimeter of the mill.
NO WORK IS DONE BY THE MILL. If speed is very low- the grinding media
will roll and slide over one another in a mass near the bottom of the mill-
Cascading action. At intermediate speeds, grinding media is carried up to a
certain extent. They fall on the material and grinding action takes place-
Cataracting action. Ball mills operate at 55-85 % of critical speed.

a) Cascading at low speed,

b) Intermediate speed- grinding- cataracting action
c) Centrifuging – high speed.

2. LOAD OF GRINDING MEDIA AND MATERIAL.

63
Ball mills should be slightly more than half full. The volume
contributed by water and material is less compared to that
contributed by the balls.

3.PULP LEVEL.

Higher pulp level in a mill needs more power. Lower pulp level
gives more degree of freedom of movement of the grinding
media - more effective grinding. In an overflow discharge mill,
the grinding media looses their kinetic energy when they fall
back into the material to be ground. Grinding is less effective.

4. SIZE DESTRIBUTION OF GRINDING MEDIA.

Should be near to close packing.
The ratio between the balls of various sizes used should be
proportional to the feed and discharge products.
The proportion can be maintained with
1. By determining the wear rate of the grinding media and
2. By sizing analysis.
The grinding media size is proportional to the feed size.
If the size is small, they may get abraded and no grinding
occurs.
5. SOLID LIQUID RATIO.
Pulp dilution affects grinding efficiency and power input.
Energy input is maximum for a pulp having 60-75 % solids.
Fine powder in the mill is like a fluid. It is easily transportable
in the mill. When 8-15% moisture is added, they form a stiff
64
mud. Above 15% moisture content – it again becomes a fluid.
20-40% moisture- the material moves very efficiently. 40%
moisture – pulp becomes watery and starts coating the grinding
medium.
For efficient use of energy in grinding –
1.ore particles should form a coating on the liners and the
grinding media.
2.the pulp should be fluid enough for steady flow through
the mill. Thin pulp - Solids settle, centrifuging occurs,
coating on the grinding media is not possible- improper
grinding . Thick pulp - Charge becomes pasty. KE is
wasted to overcome the viscosity- ores particles get
sandwiched between two grinding bodies – no proper
grinding results.

Optimum solid- liquid ratio:- Depends on coarseness of

the ground ore, density of the ore. Helps to hold the crop
load by friction, give desired lift during rotation of the
mill and proper coating on the grinding media. For good,
efficient, high capacity grinding: – Even distribution of
the pulp, Clinging layer of particles on ALL METAL
SURFACES within the mill.

CHARGE VOLUME OF A GRINDING MILL

65
Volume of the charge – volume of material within the
liners. It contains both the feed and the grinding media. It
is calculated when the mill is at rest. Average volume is calculated.
Weight of the charge is calculated with its bulk density. Ball Mills are
normally run with charge volume < 45 %.
This saves power consumption.

MOTOR SIZE
(for a particular grinding operation or a particular plant ).

The power needed to grind a given FEED SIZE to a given

PRODUCT SIZE-
W = 10 * Wi * [ ( 1/√P ) – ( 1/ √F ) ]

– power calculated to drive the mill to grind the feed from one
size distribution to a finer size distribution.

W = Power consumption- KWH / metric tonne for wet grinding,

closed circuit ,
P > 70 μ.
P = screen opening size in microns, through which 80% product
passes.
F = size of the screen opening ( microns ) through which 80% of
the feed passes.
66
Wi = The Bond Ball Mill Work index ( 1952 )- is a measure of
the resistance of the material to crushing and grinding . A Bond
Ball Mill Work Index test may be required for the design of a
new mineral processing plant .

It is determined by Bond Ball Mill Grindability Test in a lab

using a Bond Mill. Grindability is the number of net grams of (
screen ) undersized product per revolution of the mill .
Corrections are done if P is less than 80% passing 70μ size
particles.

CALCULATION OF MILL SIZE MATCHING TO

REQUIRED POWER
What should be the mill size to draw power W.
Power input to maintain the condition in the figure is KW = [ M
* C * Sine α ( 2 πN ) ] / 12.400
M - wt of charge ( metric tonne ),
C - distance of center of gravity of charge from center of mill (
meters ),
α - dynamic angle of repose,
N - mill speed ( r.p.m ).

67
OPTIMUM SIZE OF GRINDING MEDIA.
Major opposing factors-
1.As the size of the grinding media increases,
lesser surface area, the pressure between the
surfaces decreases – causes breaking of larger
particles.
68
2.As the size of the grinding media decreases,
more surface area , the pressure between the
surfaces increases- causes grinding of smaller
particles . Other factors –

1.Harder ore lumps - larger grinding media

2.Larger dia mill - needs smaller grinding media to break
particles of a given size.
3.Faster mill speeds - needs smaller grinding media to
break particles of a given size. For most efficient grinding
– the initial charge of the grinding media should have the
size distribution in a complete range from maximum to
minimum size.
CONSUMPTION OF GRINDING MEDIA.
Due to
1. abrasion of the media surface by contact with the
material ,
2. corrosion of the freshly exposed media surface. Major
grinding media consumption is by Corrosion, especially in
wet grinding. Average Consumption of media kg/tonne of
feed.
MILL Dry Wet
Rod Mill 0.15 0.45
Primary ball mill 0.15 0.45
Secondary ball mill 0.07 0.40
69
Recent Trends in Crushing And Grinding
To improve the art of crushing and grinding for
1. better grain liberation,
2. minimum overgrinding,
3. reducing power consumption,
4. reducing capital and operation costs(effective
maintenance practices, proper lubrication, use of quality
spares, changing grinding media-balls at regular
intervals,checking the pH value of the raw water in the
feed, reducing vibration and sound in the system etc).

Improvements- Development of
1. Autogenous and semiautogenous grinding machines,
2. Reduced cone oscillations in cone crusher – Rapid
rotation of unbalanced load ( and not the motion given by
the eccentric) gives improved efficiency.
3. Centrifugal crusher ( very fine size possible)
4. High pressure grinding rolls.
High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR)
Utilizes compression breakage of a particle bed. Energy
efficient inter-particle breakage occurs. Reduction ratio
obtained in a single pass is higher than that obtained in
conventional rolls crusher.
ADVANTAGES:- Reduces grinding strength , Improves
leachability due to micro-cracking , Reduces energy
70
requirements ( 20-50% more efficient than conventional
mills). INCREASES LIBERATION Via RECOVERY.

APPLICATIONS:-Tertiary or quaternary crushing stages,

Pebble crushing, Open or closed circuit operations.
Autogenous and Semi-Autogenous Mills

Autogenous (AG) and Semi-Autogenous (SAG) milling has seen increased use in recent years, especially in large
mineral processing operations. These mills typically have a large diameter relative to their length, typically in the
ratio or 2 or 2.5 to 1. AG mills employ ore as the grinding media. However, one the challenges with AG mills is that
properties, such as hardness and abrasiveness, of the ore can vary, resulting in inconsistent grinding behaviour. The
addition of steel grinding balls rectifies this situation. This approach is then termed semi-autogenous grinding and the
total amount of balls in these mills ranges between 5 and 10 percent of the volume.

Figure 5.
SAG
Mill
picture
and
general
shape

Rod,
Ball and
Pebble
Mills

The
products
from AG or SAG mills typically feed secondary grinding mills with particles that range in size from 5 cm down to
below 100 microns (0.1 mm). The final particle size is determined by downstream processing requirements. Grinding
is carried out as a wet process with water content between 50 – 70% by weight.

Rod mills are long cylinders filled with steel rods that grind by compressive forces and abrasion. The length of the
cylinder is typically 1.5 to 2.5 times longer than the diameter. As the mill turns, the rods cascade over each other in
relatively parallel fashion. One of the primary advantages of a rod mill is that it prevents over-grinding of softer
particles because coarser particles act as bridges and preferentially take the compressive forces. Rod mills can take
particles as coarse as 5 cm. Many of the newer operations tend to install ball mills in combination with SAG mills
and avoid rod mills due the cost of the media, the cost of replacing rods and general maintenance costs. Many older
operations have rod mills in combination with ball mills.

Ball mills are a similar shape to that of the rod mills except that they are shorter with length to diameter ratios of 1 to
1.5. As the name implies, the grinding media in these mills are steel balls. The particles size of the feed usually does
not exceed 2.5 cm. The grinding is carried out by balls being carried up the side of the mill such that they release and
fall to the point where they impact the ore particles in trailing bottom region of the slurry. If the mill is rotated too
fast, the balls can be thrown too far and just strike the far end of the mill and conversely, if the mill is rotated to slow,
the efficiency of the grinding process significantly reduced.

71
Ball mills are suited for finer grinding as larger particles do not impede the impact on to smaller particle as in rod
mills.

Pebble mills are similar to ball mills except that the grinding media is closely sized rocks or pebbles. Pebble milling
is a form of autogenous milling as no steel media is used in the process however, the type of rocks used are selected
more carefully than in convention AG milling.

Figure 6.
i) Rod mill
(left)
opened for

maintenance and ii) ball mill (right)

4. 0 Size-Separation: Screening and Classification

The size distribution of the particles must be controlled for a number of reasons at various stages of a mineral
processing plant:
 To enable undersized material to bypass the crushing or grinding circuit and to retain oversized particles
for further size reduction,
 To provide an optimum particle size material for efficient processing in the downstream separation and
concentration systems, and
 To prepare product that meets particle size specifications required for the market place. There are two
distinct methods for separation of particles based on size: screening and classification.
Screening: In its simplest configuration, a screen is a hard perforated surface with a matrix of fixed dimension
apertures. The material is presented to the screen surface so that material finer than the apertures falls through the
screen and the oversize is conveyed to the discharge end of the screen. Screening is generally difficult below 0.5 mm.
Classification: Classification techniques takes advantage of the principle that particles of the same density but of
different sizes settle in a fluid at different rates. Exploiting the difference in the settling rates allows for separation
based on size. Classification is usually carried out at particle sizes that are considered to be too fine for sorting
efficiently by screening methods.

SIZING

The screen is a surface with many apertures or holes, usually with

uniform dimensions. Particles of different sizes are presented to that
surface . The undersize material will pass through and oversize
materials will be retained. Thus the incoming material is sorted out
according to aperture size of the screen. Further processing depends on
the size of ore.
72
Why SCREENING ?
(a) Sizing Or Classifying - to separate particles by size, usually to
provide a downstream unit process with the particle size range suited to
that unit operation;
(b) SCALPING - to remove the coarsest size fractions in the feed
material, usually so that they can be crushed or removed from the
process;
(c) Grading - to prepare a number of products within specified size
ranges. This is important in quarrying and iron ore, where the final
product size is an important part of the specification;
(d) Media Recovery - for washing magnetic media from ore in dense
medium circuits;
(e) Dewatering - to drain free moisture from a wet sand slurry;
(f) De-Sliming Or De-Dusting - to remove fine material, generally
below 0.5 mm from a wet or dry feed; and
(g) Trash Removal - usually to remove wood fibres from a fine slurry
stream.

SIZING
73
Separation of particles according to their size. Methods –

Screening ( Sieving ) ,
Classification (Elutriation - process for separating lighter particles from
heavier ones using a vertically directed stream of
gas / liquid ) and microscopic methods.

Screening – The crushed ore is spread on a mesh

of particular aperture size and shape. The
material gets separated into oversize and
undersize. A size distribution is obtained with
different meshes with decreasing aperture sizes.

Factors Affecting The Screening Efficiency.

Screening Efficiency-

74
Weight of grains of given size in the screened
product / their weight in the supplied feed.
1.Particle Shape

Particles are irregular in shape They are assumed to be spherical / cubic. Consider - 1. A square meshed sieve. 2.It
has a linear distance ‘A’ between successive parallel wires. 3. Surface ‘S’ in the square = K / ( A.ρ ) K= constant 60
for cubic, 50 for oblong, 240 for laminar etc. ρ = Specific gravity of the mineral.

1.PARTICLE SHAPE.

Most granular materials processed on screens are non- spherical. Spherical

particles pass with equal probability in any orientation. Irregular-shaped near-mesh particles must orient themselves
in a direction that permits them to pass. Elongated and slab like particles will present a small cross- section for
passage in some orientations and a large cross- section in others.

The extreme particle shapes therefore have a low screening efficiency.

2. Size of Screen Opening. The capacity of a screen is proportional to the screen aperture. The chance of a particle
passing through the aperture is proportional to the percentage of open area in the screen material ( i.e., the ratio of the
net area of the apertures to the whole area of the screening surface ). Open area decreases with the fineness of the
75
screen aperture. Use of very thin and fragile wires for deck construction increases the open area of a fine screen.
Near mesh size particles tend to peg or plug the apertures and reduces the screen efficiency.

3. Relative Sizes Of Particle And Opening. It controls the passage / non passage of the particles. A small particle
can fall easily through the sieve opening. As its size approaches that of the opening, it becomes increasingly difficult
to fall through the opening.
Passage of particles through a wire screen- normal incidence-

Case1. Wires have small cross section compared to the openings.

“a” screen aperture, “d” particle

diameter. If the particle strikes
the screen NORMALLY, it will
not go un-deflected through the
opening. To go un-deflected, the
particle should be at the center
of the opening. For wires of
small cross section, probability
of passage ‘p’ = [ ( a-d ) / a ]2.

Relative Sizes Of Particle And Opening. For wires of large cross

section, probability of passage “p” = [ ( a-d ) / ( a+b ) ]2. 149
Passage of particles through a wire screen- normal incidence- Case2.
Wires have larger cross section .

76
4. Angle Of Incidence Of Particles On Screens.

It is an important parameter. The particle should fall with its minimum cross section , normal to the aperture . The
fall should be slow. As the deviation from normal increases, the chance of passage of the particle decreases. In
practice, particles fall in all angles at very high speed. The screen angle also affects the speed at which particles are
conveyed along the screen, dwell time on the screen and number of opportunities particles have to pass through the
screen.

5. Percentage of Screen Area Opening

More the area of opening, faster will be the rate of screening 6. FRICTION OF THE SIEVE. Friction of the screen
makes bunches of fine, dried particles. It is due to static electricity. Several undersized particles make a bunch and
find difficult to pass through the screen. They may be wrongly reported as oversize particles. Bunching increases
with temperature- screening is to be done in cool rooms.

77
7. Moisture Content
Very dry particles / wet pulp can be easily screened. Difficult to screen dry particles with small amount of water .
Dampness causes particles sticking together or clinging to screen surface

8. Soluble Salts Soluble salts adhering to particles increase effective cross section of the particles- wrong report of
sieve analysis.
9. Spreading Of Feed Over Screen Area
If the feed is spread wider on the screen, it is easier for the particles to pass through the openings. 10.Corrosion Of
Screen Material. This produces roughness on the sieve and changes the opening size. Stainless steel sieves may be
used.

Comminuition of Ores – Laboratory Method

WHEN AND WHERE?

Material for size analysis is collected from the crushing section, the grinding section or closed circuit return /
discharge . Material from the crushing section - to assess the work done by the crusher and the work to be done by
the subsequent grinder.

Material from the mill discharge of grinding section – to assess the size distribution of discharged particles. Material
from closed circuit return- to asses sizes of materials returned for further grinding. Material from closed circuit
discharge- to assess whether the valuables are properly liberated for further concentration.

NEED.
Lab sizing tests are done to check
1. Progress of the material at various stages of treatment,
2. The efficiency of power and

78
3. The effect of grinding on the recovery of values from the ore. Lab. screening is normally done upto 40 microns (
making sieves with accuracy below this is difficult). The apertures ( meshes ) of sieve- they are reference points
telling whether particles will pass through them or not. This depends on the cross sectional area of the particles. A
screen- an assembly of various apertures to testmany particles at the same time.

THE SCREEN.

Screens are circular shells of brass – 8” dia and 2” ht. Screen cloth is at the bottom of the shell. Screens nest in each
other in order of decreasing size. A complete set has a cover and bottom pan.

THE TECHNIQUES. Dry or wet screening is done in a laboratory. Wet screening is done to remove the unwanted
particles, remove the undersized particles, dissolve the dried-on salts and disperse adhering clay. Wet screening- Dry
the sample and weigh it. Disperse it in water having sodium silicate ( water glass Na2SiO3 – binds colloidal
material). Wash gently on the finest screen of the series. Collect the undersize in a bowl. The oversize is dried and
screened using desired set of sieves.

79
1. Hand Screening. Three screens are assembled ( NEST of SIEVES )- the coarsest at the top and the finest at the
bottom. The sieves should not have any defect and they are brushed to clear the apertures before assembly. The final
undersize product is collected in a pan, tightly fitting the third screen. The sieves should closely fit to prevent loss of
fines during sieving. A sample of 200 gms is loaded in the upper sieve. For good screening – ideal load is one
particle deep. normally upto four particles deep are loaded with good accuracy.

The assembly is held in the right hand and struck against the palm of the left hand. The sieve assembly is rotated by
60O and the direction of shaking is changed every 30 seconds. The operation is repeated for a given length of time.
The time of sieving depends on the nature of the material. ( Eg:-friable materials should not be screened with shock
for longer period- they disintegrate). The undersize is removed and sieve analysis is carried out. 2. AUTOMATIC
SCREENING. Normally used for lab. work. Upto 6 standard screens ( sometimes 12 ) with the bottom pan are
assembled on a framework of a mechanical shaker. Normal operating time – 5-20 minutes. In the Tyler machine, the
material on the screen is given a continuous circular motion. A blow is given to the nest of sieves once for each
revolution. MOST SATISFACTORY SCREENING RESULT – EACH SCREEN SHOULD CONTAIN
MATERIAL REDUIRED TO FORM ONE LAYER OF ONE PARTICLE DEEP. Limitation- Fine particles may
adhere to coarse particles or to each other through electrostatic action. It can be prevented by wet-cum-dry screening.

80
 TYPES OF SCREENS

Screens are made of 1)sheet metal with round or

square holes. The apertures will be flaring out
and down ward for easy fall of particles.
2)woven or welded rods/wires ( coarse sieve-
steel wire. Fine sieve- brass (95% Cu, 5% Zn ) /
bronze (88% Cu,12%Sn ) wire.
The MESH – defined as the number of apertures
( holes ) per unit length ( inch or cm).

Different countries use wires of different

thicknesses to make the sieve. This causes difference in the aperture size of
the screens used in different countries. So standards are employed. U.S.A - TYLOR, American Standard Testing of
Materials (ASTM E 11-70). UK - British standard ( B.S 410-62, 410-69), Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
(IMM- London). FRANCE - AFNOR X 11-501 (Association Française de Normalisation). GERMANY- DIN 4188-
1957 (Deutsches Institut für Normung - The German Institute for Standardization) . INDIA - IS 460-1962 .

81
TYPES OF SIEVES

Typical openings in laboratory sieve series

Sieve size (mm) BSS [6] Tyler (approx) US (approx)
4.75 - 4 4
3.35 5 6 6
2.81 6 7 7
2.38 7 8 8
2.00 8 9 10
1.68 10 10 12
1.40 12 12 14
1.20 14 14 16
1.00 16 16 18
0.853 18 20 20
0.710 22 24 25
0.599 25 28 30
0.500 30 32 35
0.422 36 35 40
0.354 44 42 45
0.297 52 48 50
0.251 60 60 60
0.211 72 65 70
0.178 85 80 80
0.152 100 100 100
0.125 120 115 120
0.104 150 150 140
0.089 170 170 170
0.075 200 200 200
0.066 240 250 230
0.053 300 270 270
0.044 350 325 325
0.037 440 400 400

82
The aperture of a standard mesh varies from one another by 1.414 [ i.e (2)1/2 ]. Eg :- in Tyler series- Mesh no 200 –
aperture width 74 microns 150- 74 * 1.414 = 104 μs. ( next larger size) 250- 74 / 1.414 = 53 μs.

TYPES OF SCREENS.

IMM- - wire dia = width of aperture- gives 25% screening area.

ASTM - wires are thinner – gives 30% screening area.
BS - still thinner wires- gives 40% screening area.
GREATER THE SCREENING AREA – HIGHER THE SCREEING RATE ( screens will be of less strength).
Number of apertures in a screen is INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to ( Aperture ) 2.

83
 SUB SIEVE SIZING

Normally sieving is done in labs upto 70 microns size. There may be a lot of material unsized. Sub sieving is done to
size particles less than 70 microns in size. Methods used are SEDIMENTATION, ELUTRIATION, INFRA SIZING,
PERMEABILITY METHOD AND MICROSCOPIC MEHTODS.

SUB SIEVE SIZING.

1.SEDIMENTATION. It is based on the FALLING RATE of SMALL PARTCLES through STATIC LIQUIDS.
The sample is suspended in a fluid medium. Suitable agitation is given. Now it is allowed to settle for a fixed time.
The settling action is stopped by withdrawing ( siphoning out ) the fluid medium after the fixed time. The sediment is
again subjected to the above operations. Nearly 20 or more such cycles are carried out. In each cycle weight of the
sediment is reported. Sedimentation method is used to size down to 5 -2 microns.

84
SUB SIEVE SIZING.

2. ELUTRIATION. The fall of a particle due to its mass is retarded by the friction between the particles and the
rising column of fluid. This depends on the total surface of the particle. When a large number of spheres having the
same specific gravity move in a rising column of water – the smaller ones rise, the medium ones dance in a diluted
layer, the larger ones fall through the water. This behaviour of the spheres depends on the chances of collision and
Kinetic energy gained during rising or falling. This principle is used to separate out particles.

IN THE PROCESS OF ELUTRIATION

Particles falling in a rising fluid can be classified into two sizes. HOW? The fluid is rising with a certain velocity.
The particles having terminal velocities > this velocity will settle at the bottom of the sorting column. The particles
having terminal velocities < this velocity will be lifted to the top of the sorting column. This will be carried away to
the next tube containing sorting liquid.

The process repeats. Terminal velocity of a fluid is calculated from Stoke’s law. Re = ( 2 r Vm Δ’ ) /μ, = Reynold’s
number - a dimensionless number that gives a measure of the ratio of inertial forces to viscous force

Vm= ( 2/9 ) * [( Δ - Δ’ ) r2 g ] / μ.
Δ = Sp gr of particle,
Δ’ = Sp gr of fluid medium,
r = radius of the particle,
μ = viscosity of the medium,
Vm = terminal velocity of the particle.
g = gravitational acceleration
STOKE’S LAW
Theforce that retards a sphere moving through a viscous fluid is directly proportional to the velocity of the sphere,
the radius of the sphere and the viscosity of the fluid.

85
Keep the volumetric flow rate of the rising fluid constant. Now the velocity of the rising fluid in the columns
depends on the column diameters. Narrow dia column gives high velocity - This allows coarser particles to settle.
Larger dia columns gives lower velocity - This allows finer particles to settle. Columns of decreasing dias. are
assembled in a series. They separate particles of different sizes.

ELUTRIATION. The laboratory BLITHE ELUTRIATOR consists of

i)Water supply at constant head,

ii)Flow rate controller for the water rising through the elutriator,

iii)A sorting tube with smooth and parallel sides and

iv)Separate vessels ( receptacles ) to catch the overflowing and under flowing particles.

86
3.INFRASIZING

This can size materials that are finer than those handled by sedimentation or elutriation. The process- A current of air
is sent with miniumum turbulence through a series of tubes. The tubes have increasing diameters. A 50 gm sample
ore is introduced into the air stream. The infra-sizer and the sample should be dry. Electrostatic effects on the
particles is reduced / removed by using conducting rubber in the flexible connections.

4. MICROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS

A metallurgical microscope is used for this purpose. The microscope has

calibrated stage. The ore particles are sprinkled or dispersed on the stage. Linear
measurement of each particle is done separately. Average size of particle is
calibrated in the lot of material sprinkled. Can make actual measurements upto
0.5 micron level. Even finer particles can be measured with microscopes having
better resolution. This method is unsuitable if sizes of particles differ very much
since - 1. larger particles may cover finer particles and may not be visible 2. all
particles may not be in focus, 3. fine particles may stick to larger particles.

MICROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS. Place an engraved linear scale ( Ocular - glass ) in the eyepiece.Keep a
micrometer on the stage. Both the scales are correlated for a particular magnification. Remove the stage micrometer.
Keep the specimen to be measured.

Grizzly

87
Grizzlies are used for rough screening of coarse materials and are most
often found in crushing circuits. A grizzly is basically an inclined set of
heavy bars set in a parallel manner. Coarse material slides on the
inclined surface of the bars and material finer than the spacing between
the bars falls through (figure 7). The grizzlies can be vibrated to
improve performance.

Figure 7. A grizzly
Revolving Screen (Trommel)

A trommel is a slightly inclined rotating cylindrical screen. The

material is fed at one end of the cylinder and the undersize material
falls through the screening surface while the oversize is conveyed by
the rotating motion down the incline to the discharge end. Although
trommels are relatively cheap, they have lower capacities and are
susceptible to rapid wear; hence they have been largely replaced by
vibrating or shaking screens. A trommel can handle both dry and wet
feed material.

88
 Figure 8. Revolving screen used in trammels

Moving Screens (reciprocating, oscillating, vibratory

and gyratory screens)

There are various types of horizontally inclined screens

such as the reciprocating, oscillating, vibratory or shaking
screening. The basic difference in these screens is based
upon the motion of the surface and the resulting action
imparted on the material being screened.
The vibratory screen is probably the most common
screening device found in mineral processing applications.
Different manufacturers have developed unique vibration
and motion systems for the various types of material and
particle sizes encountered within mineral processing
plants. Many of these types of screens have multiple decks
so different particle size products can be obtained from a
single feed.

89
The gyratory screen is supported in a manner that it allows
for both a gyratory and slight vertical motion to the screen
deck. These types of screens can have multiple removable
and replaceable decks. Gyratory screens can be used in
wet or dry applications and are usually used for separation

of finer particles.

Figure 9. Examples of moving screens

CONCENTRATION
90
 Gravity and Dense Medium Separation

Gravity concentration methods separate particles based on

the differences in their specific gravity (SG) values and
their relative movement within a natural or applied
gravitation force. The relative rate of settling based on the
gravitational forces and the counter viscous forces are
exploited for effective separation.

Dense medium separation relies not only the difference

between the specific gravity of the particles but also
exploits the variation in the effective SG of a fluid
medium. Particles denser than the specific gravity of the
medium sink and are collected as a separate product from
the ones that float. For example, a dense medium can be a
chemical such as tetra-bromo-ethane which has a specific
gravity of 2.96 or a dense medium can be made using very
fine particles of magnetite or ferrosilicon suspended in
water as a slurry. The SG values of the slurries made from
magnetite and ferrosilicon can be as high as 2.5 and 3.2
respectively. Chemicals are often used for lab scale
separations while dense medium slurries are used more on
an industrial scale.

91
The Concentration Criteria (CC) which gives an idea of
the amenability of separation of two minerals,
can be expressed by

where, dH = Sp. gr. of the heavy mineral, dF = Sp. gr. of the

fluid, and
dL = Sp. gr. of the light mineral.

Generally, when the quotient is greater than 2.5 (whether

positive or negative) then gravity separation is relatively
easy. With a decrease in the value of the quotient the
efficiency of the separation decreases and below 1.25
generally, gravity concentration is not feasible.

Concentration Criterion depends suitable size of

the material.

92
 Concentration Suitable size for separation
Criterion by gravity concentration
>2.5 Separation easy up to
1.75-2.5 Possible up to 150
microns(100 mesh)
1.50-1.75 Possible up to 1.7mm(10
mesh)_
1.25-1.50 Possible up to 6.35mm(1/4th
inch)
Below 1.25 No separation is possible at
any size
Heavy liquid/media
separation is possible.
As mentioned above, besides the specific gravity, the motion of a
particle in fluid also depends on its size. The efficiency of gravity
concentration increases with an increase in particle size. The particle
movement should be governed by the Newton's Law, Eq. 12

where, v = terminal velocity of the particle, D = density of the solid,

Df = density of the fluid, and d= diameter of the particle.

93
For small particle, the movement is dominated mainly by surface
friction and these respond poorly to commercial, high capacity gravity
separators. To reduce the size effect and for making the relative motion
of the particles specific gravity dependent, a closely sized feed is
desirable.

CONCENTRATION MECHANISM
There is no single mechanism for the operation of a particular gravity
separator. Generally a combination of two or more mechanisms is
helpful in explaining the behavior of any separator. The various
mechanisms proposed are briefly described below.
Density
The methodology employs a fluid with the apparent density in between
those of the minerals to be separated. Hence due to difference in the
buoyancy, one mineral floats while the other sinks. The most common
example is the heavy medium separation.
Stratification
In this case the minerals are stratified by an intermittent fluidization
caused by the pulsation of the fluid in a vertical plane. Examples are
various types of jigs used for concentration including Baum and
relatively more recent Batac jigs.

94
Flowing Film
The minerals are separated by the relative movement through a stream
of slurry which is flowing down a plane by the action of gravity.
Examples are sluice, Richert Cone etc. In another type of flowing film
concentrators, the various constituents are separated by the
superposition of a horizontal shear force on the flowing film.
Examples are Shaking table, Bartles-Mozley Separator and Cross Belt
Concentrator.

Range of the Available Gravity Concentrators

A wide range of gravity separators is available for concentration of
various types of ores with feed varying particle size distribution.
Besides the cost involved, the important factors in equipment selection
are the particle size distribution of the feed, specific duty required,
throughput and efficiency of the separation desired.
Recent Developments in Fine Gravity Concentration
As mentioned in the previous section, gravity concentration processes
suffer from serious limitations in treating fine particles (typically below
50 micron) efficiently. The factors such as small mass, low momentum,
colloidal coating, hetero-aggregation, high surface area, increased
surface energy and viscosity cause loss in selectivity of separation. But
considering the high loss of values in fines and slimes coupled with the
environmental pollution problems, there have been considerable efforts
to develop an efficient gravity separator for fines. The various early
fine gravity concentrator like Buddies, Stakes, Vanners, Round tables
and Round frames were relied upon the principle of thin film
concentration and suffer from very low capacity per unit area and the
low ratio of enrichment.

In recent times because of their simple design and less maintenance

problems, water only cyclones are gaining popularity. The equipment is
95
similar to conventional cyclone except that it has got a large angle
lower conical section. This helps in suppressing the classification and
leads to separation based on the difference in the specific gravity of the
suspended particles. The equipment has been used for coal preparation
but there exists scope for extending its application to lead-zinc,
cassiterite, placer deposits of gold etc.

The application of centrifugal forces to heavy media separation, in the

D.M.S. Cyclone, Dyna-whirlpool
and the Tri-flow separator, has increased the range of particle sizes that
can be treated down to 200 microns. The recent fine gravity centrifugal
separators like Knelson concentrator, Kelsey jig and Multi-Gravity
separator (MGS) can treat particles further in the finer size range.
Sluices, Reichert Cones and Spirals

Sluices or sluice boxes

They are commonly found at alluvial operations for the recovery of
liberated placer gold. Sluice boxes with riffles are one of the oldest
forms of gravity separation devices used today. The size of sluices
range from small, portable aluminum models used for prospecting to
large units hundreds of feet long. Sluice boxes can be made out of
wood, aluminum, plastic or steel. The riffles in a sluice slow and retard
heavy material flowing in the slurry, which forms a material bed that
traps heavy particles and creates turbulence. This turbulence causes
heavy particles to tumble, and repeatedly exposes them to the trapping
medium.

An overhanging lip, known as a Hungarian riffle, increases the

turbulence behind the riffle, is commonly used in these units. Other
configurations of sluices may use astro-turf, screens or rubber material
with ridges.
96
Pinched sluices have also been used for heavy-mineral separations for
centuries.
In its most basic form, the pinched sluice is an inclined trough 60 to 90
cm long, narrowing from about 24 cm in width at the feed end to 3 cm
at the discharge end.
Feed consisting of 50-65% solids enters the sluice and stratifies as the
particles flow through the sluice and crowds into the narrow discharge
area. The crowding causes the bed to dilate allowing heavy minerals to
migrate and move along the bottom, while lighter particles are forced
to the top.

The resulting mineral bands are separated by a splitter at the discharge

end. Pinched sluices are simple devices and are inexpensive to build
and run. Pinched sluices are mainly used for separation of heavy
mineral sands. A large number of pinched sluices are required for a
high capacity operation, and a large amount of recirculation pumping is
required for proper feed delivery. These drawbacks led to the
development and adoption of the Reichert cone in many plants.

Figure 14. a) Left – Pinched sluice cross section and plan view b) Right – Sluice box

The Reichert Cone concentrator is based on the pinched sluice

concept but employs an inverted cone instead of a rectangular channel
(figure 15). The crowding and dilating effect of the bed is produced by
a reduction in perimeter as the material approaches the center discharge
97
point. Reicherts are more efficient than pinched sluices because there
are no sidewalls to interfere in the separation process. Reicherts cones
are usually stacked to achieve high throughput for a given footprint.

Spiral concentrators are modern, high

capacity, low cost units developed for the
concentration of low grade ores and industrial
minerals.
Spirals consist of a single or double helical
conduit or sluice wrapped around a central
collection column with a wash water channel
and a series of concentrate removal ports
placed at regular intervals along the spiral.
Separation is achieved by stratification of
material caused by a complex combined
effect of centrifugal force, differential settling
and heavy particle migration through the bed
to the inner part of the conduit (see figure
16). To increase the amount of material that
can be processed by a unit, two or more
spirals are constructed around one central
column. A variety of designs and
98
modifications have been developed by
various manufacturers to improve the general
operation of these units.

99
100
 Figure 15. Elements and operation of a Reichert Cone

Figure 16. Spiral Concentrator a cross section of the

helical conduit and flow pattern is shown on the right

Shaking Tables

101
Shaking tables, also known as wet tables, consist
of a sloping deck with a riffled surface. A motor
drives a small arm that shakes the table along its
length, parallel to the riffle and rifle pattern. This
longitudinal shaking motion consists of a slow
forward stroke followed by rapid return strike.
The riffles are arranged in such a manner that
heavy material is trapped and conveyed parallel
to the direction of the oscillation (see figure 1).
Water is added to the top of the table
perpendicular to the table motion. The heaviest
and coarsest particles move to one end of the
table while the lightest and finest particles tend to
wash over the riffles and to the bottom edge.
Intermediate points between these extremes
provides recovery of the middling (intermediate
size and density) particles.

102
Shaking tables find extensive use in
concentrating gold but are also used in the
recovery of tin and tungsten minerals. These
devices are often used downstream of other
gravity concentration equipment such as spirals,
reicherts, jigs and centrifugal gravity
concentrators for final cleaning prior to refining
or sale of product.
Jigs
Jigging, like most gravity concentration techniques, is one of
the oldest methods for concentrating minerals based on
differences in the density of the particles. The elementary jig is
an open tank filled with water with a thick bed of particles,
called ragging, supported on a horizontal perforated surface
(figure 19). The water is pulsated up and down (i.e. the jigging
action) pneumatically or with the use of a mechanical plunger .
The jigging action causes denser particles to preferentially
trickle down faster and are removed from the bottom of the
unit.

Under the action of repeated pulsion and suction strokes three

factors contribute to the stratification of the bed in the jig cycle.

103
 Fig. 17, Showing Jig cycle
Products of Jig Cycle (Fig. 17) are –

(a) Concentrate usually coarser heavier material which settles at the

bottom of the jig chamber
(b) Hutch products usually heavy fines which discharge from the
spigot arranged below the jig chamber.
(c) Lighter gangue material which overflows the lip of the jig box.

Numerous types and configurations of jigs have been developed over

many years with each type providing some improvement over the other
units. But they all rely upon the same principle for separation of the
minerals.

104
Figure 18. Elements and operation of a shaking table

Figure 19. Elements and operation of a jig

105
Types of jigs

(a) Fixed screen, and

(b) Movable screen jigs

Centrifugal Gravity Concentrators

In the last 20 years, advancements in the design and operation of centrifugal gravity concentrators have made them
the predominant method for gravity concentration of gold. Further advances in recent years has expanded the use of
this technology for the recovery other heavy minerals. The Knelson and Falcon concentrator companies manufacture
the two most common units being used in the industry today These units consist of a riffled cone or bowl that spins
at high speed to create forces in excess of 60 times that of gravity. Slurry is introduced into the cone; the centrifugal
force produced by rotation drives the solids toward the walls of the cone. The slurry migrates up along the wall
where heavier particles are captured within the riffles. Injecting water through the holes located in the back of the
riffles fluidizes the riffled area. The fluidization process prevents compaction of the concentrated bed and allows for
efficient separation of heavy minerals.

Figure 19:Falcon Concentrator

Magnetic Separation
Magnetic separations take advantage of the magnetic properties of
minerals. All minerals will have one of three magnetic properties:
ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and diamagnetic.
Ferromagnetic minerals (i.e., magnetite and pyrrhotite) are magnetic
and are easily separated from other minerals, since they will be
attracted to the poles of a magnet.
Paramagnetic and diamagnetic minerals are not magnetic, but differ in
how they interact with magnetic fields. Paramagnetic minerals are
weakly attracted.

106
Diamagnetic minerals are weakly repelled along lines of magnetic
forces. Thus, if a mixture of paramagnetic and diamagnetic minerals is
passed through a magnetic field; the paramagnetic minerals will be
pulled into the field and the diamagnetic minerals will be repelled or
separated from the field. Furthermore, paramagnetic minerals have
different degrees of para-magnetism that can also be used to effect
separations.

Magnetic fields of various intensities can be provided by permanent or

electromagnets. Generally, magnetic separators are classified as low or
high intensity and whether they work in wet or dry applications. The
field around a magnet exerts a force called magnetic field, the lines of
force called flux and the concentration of such flux called flux density.
The unit of flux density is Tesla(T), and a smaller unit is gauss.

1 Tesla = 10,000 gauss

An example of a concurrent low-intensity wet magnetic separator is

shown in figure 20. In concurrent separators, slurry flows in the same
direction as the rotation of the drum surrounding the magnets.

Figure 20. Elements of a wet low-intensity magnetic separator

107
 CLASSIFICATION
Sedimentation and Hydraulic Classifiers
Free settling classifiers are essentially large pools, ponds or conical
bottomed tanks with a free settling zone. The coarser particles sink and
are removed from the bottom of the settling zone. These units are
simple in design but often inefficient in sorting and sizing. A hydraulic,
hindered bed settler exploits differences in the settling rates of
particles. The particles settle against a rising current of water in a series
of sorting chambers or conical pockets. The relative rate of settling
against the varying up-flow currents in each of the conical pockets
provides recovery of the different sized particles in each of the
chambers.

108
 Figure 10. Elements of a sedimentation (left) and hydraulic
classifier (right
Spiral and Rake Classifiers
Mechanical classifiers such as the spiral and rake classifiers work in a
similar fashion in that both drag sediment and sand along the bottom of
an inclined surface to a higher discharge point on one end of the
settling chamber. The primary difference in the two systems is the
mechanism by which the settled material is moved up the inclined
surface (see figure 11). Spiral classifiers are generally preferred as
material does not slide backwards which occurs in rake classifiers
when the rakes are lifted between strokes. This also allows spiral
classifiers to operate at steeper inclines producing a drier product. The
spiral classifier also produces less turbulence in the settling pool
allowing for separation of finer material.

109
Figure 11. Elements of spiral
and rake classifiers

Hydro-cyclones (Cyclones)

Hydro-cyclones have become one of the most

important and widely used classifiers in the mineral
processing industry. They are also used for de-
sliming, de-watering, de-gritting and thickening
processes. They are most commonly employed in
closed circuit within grinding circuits and are used to
return coarse material back to the ball or rod mill for
further grinding. The main advantages of cyclones is
that they have large capacities relative to their size

110
and can separate at finer sizes than most other
screening and classification equipment.
The separation mechanism in hydro-cyclones relies on centrifugal force
to accelerate the settling of particles. The slurry enters the cylindrical
section tangentially above a conical section. The velocity of the slurry
increases as it follows a downward helical path from the inlet area to
the smaller diameter underflow end. As the slurry flows along this path,
centrifugal forces cause the larger and denser particles to migrate to the
fluid layer nearest the wall of the cone. Meanwhile, the finer or lower
specific gravity particles remain in, migrate to, or are displaced toward
the center axis of the cone. As the swirling slurry approaches the
underflow tip, smaller and lighter material closer to the center reverses
its axial direction and follows a smaller diameter rotating path back
toward the top overflow discharge pipe.

Figure 12. Hydrocylone pictures and elements of operation

111
Separation and Concentration Techniques
The separation and concentration of the valuable mineral can take place after the ore is crushed, ground, and
classified into the required particle size distribution. There a number of different techniques are employed in
concentrating the valuable minerals. These techniques exploit differences in physical or chemical properties of the
valuable and gangue minerals.

Separation Methods

i. Sorting - based on appearance, colour, texture, optical properties and radioactivity

ii. Gravity and Dense-Medium Separation – Separation based on specific gravity of the valuable mineral relative
to the gangue and the carrying medium such as water. In dense-medium separation, the a carrying medium is a
mixture of water, magnetite, or ferrosilicon. The paramagnetic properties of the medium allow it to either remain in
suspension at a predetermined slurry density or to be separated from water for cleaning and reuse.

iii. Magnetic Separation - separation based upon natural or induced differences in magnetic susceptibility of the
minerals within the ore.

iv. Froth Flotation – separations based on the surface chemistry properties of a mineral. The natural or modified
surface property of the mineral determines its ability to attach to an air bubble and float to the surface.

Sorting
Sorting by hand has the longest history of all the mineral beneficiation methods and is rarely used today. The method
is carried out by visual differentiation of lumps of rocks where valuable lumps are picked out and retained for
processing. The cost of labour and being able to economically recover significant quantities of minerals has made
this practice obsolete except in the areas of highly valuable minerals such as gems.
Advances in electronics and optical technology have made the automation of sorting techniques an important process
in some ore systems. For example, recent advances using optical sorting methods is being employed in the diamond
industry using an x-ray beam. Diamonds emit light when hit by an x-ray and the resulting light is picked up by a
detector. As a mono-layer stream of rocks and diamonds fall through this beam, the detector activates jets of air
which knock the diamond into a separate bin (see figure 13).

Variations of this principle are used on other mineral systems using lasers. The laser light is reflected from a rotating
mirror drum which allows the scanning of falling stream of rocks to be scanned at thousands of times a second. A
photomultiplier detects the reflected light and activates an air jet at the right instant and intensity to eject the particle
from the stream. These systems have been employed in the recovery of barite, talc, wolframite and scheelite to name
a few.

112
 Figure 13. Elements of optical sorting systems

FROTH FLOTATION

Froth flotation is the single most important mineral recovery process.

This is driven by its ability to selectively separate minerals.

Flotation is considered to be a physico-chemical process. Equipment in

the form of mechanically or pneumatically agitated tanks or cells
generate air bubbles, which provides the physical aspect. The chemical
aspect is provided by reagents, which vary the surface properties of
minerals and of the slurry medium for separation of valuable minerals,
especially those of copper, lead and zinc sulfides from gangue
materials. Advancements in technology have expanded the use of
flotation for recovery of oxide minerals such as hematite, cassiterite
(tin ore) , malachite, fluorite, and phosphates. The use of flotation for
recovery of fine coal is also widely practiced.

113
The flotation process begins with a modification of the surface
properties of the desired mineral. The addition of surfactants renders
the mineral surface hydrophobic (water-hating), so that the mineral
may preferentially adhere to air bubbles and float to the surface. The
unwanted minerals remain hydrophilic (water-loving) and do not attach
to air bubbles. The surface of the slurry is modified by other reagents
that lower surface tension forces. This allows the air bubbles to form a
semi-stable froth. The hydrophobic minerals are recovered by
skimming the froth off of the surface, while the hydrophilic minerals
remain in the slurry.
Flotation Reagents

The establishment of a hydrophobic surface on a mineral is similar in

principle to waxing an automobile or shining shoes to prevent wetting.
A hydrocarbon layer is established on the surface because the
hydrocarbon surface is not water-wetted. In flotation systems,
chemical, rather than mechanical, means are used to establish the
hydrocarbon layer selectively on one or more of minerals, and the layer
is not complete. There are three main types of surfactants used in
flotation: collectors, frothers, and modifier

 Collectors are also known as promoters. They are polar reagents

with a metal ion on one end joined by an organic ion at the other
end. The metal ion adsorbs onto a metal ion in the mineral
surface. The organic ion at the other end forms a new surface
that is hydrophobic. A common example, potassium amyl
xanthate, C5H11OCS2K that dissolves or ionizes in water.

 Frothers are surface-active chemicals that concentrate at the air-

water interface. They prevent air bubbles from coalescing or
bursting by lowering the surface tension of the slurry. Frothing
114
 properties can be persistent or non-persistent depending on the
desired stability of the froth. Examples of frothers are pine oil
and high molecular weight alcohols such as MIBC. There are
other proprietary frothers developed by various chemical
companies

 Modifiers are sometimes known as regulators, and are used to

vary slurry and mineral conditions to assist in the selective
flotation of minerals. Modifiers may activate poorly floating
minerals such as sphalerite, or may depress certain minerals, so
that a

differential flotation can be performed on a complex ore.

Chemicals that change the pH of the slurry are also used as
115
 modifiers. pH modifiers include lime, soda ash, sulfuric acid;
can act as activators and/or depressants by controlling the
alkalinity and acidity of the slurry. Modifiers can also counteract
interfering effects from the detrimental slimes, colloids, and soluble salts that can absorb and thereby
reduce the effectiveness of flotation reagents.

Figure 21. Elements of a conventional flotation cell

Processing Approach and Method

In broader terms, mineral processing consists of two functions. Firstly, it involves the preparation and liberation, of
the valuable minerals from waste minerals and secondly, the separation these values into two or more products,
called concentrates. The term separation in this case is synonymous with concentration. These functions are carried
out within the constraints of the following three rules.

2. The first rule deals with the conservation of mass. The total flow of the material into the process plant equals
the total flow out.
3. The second rule relates to the quality or grade of the concentrate product. In practice, it is impossible to
produce a concentrate consisting of only one mineral.
4. The third rule is a corollary of the second. It is impractical to recover all of the valuable minerals into the
concentrate.

116
 Figure 1. Typical processing flow sheet for metalliferous ores

The flow sheet in Figure 1 shows diagrammatically the typical sequence of operations in the process plant. The
various unit operations used for liberation and separation will be discussed in the following sections.

Coal Processing
Coal And Its Utilization

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel available on the Earth which
accounts for about 55 % of the World’s electricity generation and the
around 65 % in India. It can be defined as a complex heterogeneous
mixture of plant substances which are altered due to physical and
chemical processes.

Coalification or Coal formation have been taking place for several

million years and have been accomplished by bacteria, heat and
pressure inside the Earth’s crust. It primarily consists of Carbon along
with Hydrogen, Oxygen, Sulphur etc. as secondary components.

Coal formation starts from the plant debris and ends at Graphite at its
highest maturity. This process may be complete or may be stopped at
any stage giving rise to coal of varying maturity thus various Ranks.
The commonly used ranks of coal are Peat, Lignite, Sub-Bituminous,
Bituminous, Semi-Anthracite and Anthracite. Peat, being the poorest
variety, is usually not considered as coal. With the progress of coal
formation, the amount of moisture and oxygen decreases; the amount
of carbon increases. The calorific value increases from 4500 kcal/kg
for Lignite to 8500 kcal/kg for Bituminous.

Apart from electricity generation in thermal power plants as stated

above, coal finds its application in many other fields such as
117
Metallurgical Coke Manufacture (in Steel 2 industries), Polymers,
fibers, dyes, Alumina refineries. In recent ages it has found many
applications towards Advanced Carbon Nano Tubes, Carbon Electrode,
Carbon Fibers etc. Being a chief source of carbon, almost all
applications of coal want it to be in purest form, thus it needs to be
cleaned from any sort of undesired impurities associated with it.

Why Coal preparation and washing ?

The raw coal extracted out from the coal mine is processed through
different techniques to achieve the desired qualities. These result in
higher economic value of run of-mine (ROM) coal. The environmental
impacts of burning of coal should also to be kept in mind. The mineral
matters of the coal should be reduced during its processing such that,
the emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and
particulate matters are minimized during burning. The technology of
coal washing or coal preparation is applied to produce specific
desirable coal products from the run-of-mine coal without the change
of the physical identity.
In the early days, the coal in the form of lumps were supplied for
domestic use and the intermediate sizes were kept for the industrial use,
whereas, the fines were rejected. The sizing facilities were gradually
developed. The sophisticated handling and screening facilities were
introduced into the market as per customer requirements. Recently, the
demand of smaller sized coal has increased. The larger sized coals are
kept for their shipment. The washing technique was first introduced in
Europe in 1918 and later “Chance” washer was used. The washer
utilized sand and water as medium. In course of time, many other types

118
of washing technology have been introduced and then they were
modified or rejected according to the need.

Coal preparation

Coal preparation includes blending and homogenization, size reduction,

grinding, screening and handling. The most important step is coal
beneficiation or cleaning. The cost of coal preparation depends on the
methods used and also on the degree of beneficiation required, which is
greatly determined by the market demand of the product. Almost all
coal used for electric power generation and industrial boilers is either
pulverized or crushed and sized before burning. The presence of non-
combustible material or ash in run-off-mine coal increases in net heat
content but it reduces the dust, ash content, transportation and shipping
costs. Ash content also increases wear in coal grinding equipment and
boilers.

Therefore, coal can be subjected to different levels of cleaning,

depending upon its type, its utilisation with consideration of the cost of
cleaning. Very dirty coals containing large amount of extraneous
mineral material, could only match the market specification after
substantial cleaning. The final selling price of these coal is determined
by the cost of the cleaning steps. The equipments used for washing of
coal include centrifuges, froth flotation devices, disc filters, thickeners,
cyclones, and thermal dryers

What are the Typical steps in coal preparation :

119
 crushing
screening into different size fractions
physical, chemical or mechanical processes to remove undesired
impurities
dewatering
thermal drying
blending
agglomeration or briquetting

Coal preparation process starts with crushing and screening of freshly

mined coal, which removes some of the non-coal material. Mechanical
cleaning or “washing” is actually the process of separation of non-coal
materials or undesired adherent materials of coal by using a liquid
medium. The liquid medium may be an aqueous solution or organic
liquid. Sometimes a heavy, finely ground mineral, such as magnetite is
added in the liquid medium to ensure the removal of unwanted rock
and mineral matter from coal particles.

Wet or “hydraulic” cleaning technique is a process which includes

agitation of the coal-liquid feed by aeration, materials sorting according
to relative density in hydrocyclones, and froth flotation to recover fine
coal particles. To meet environmental regulations, modern wash plants
are able remove around 40 percent of the inorganic sulfur in coal. A
rarely used technique is dry technique in which coal and non-coal
materials are segregated by vigorous shaking and pneumatic air-flow
separation for crushed feed coal. Dry technique is used before actual
washing.

Prepared coal is usually dewatered to some extent as excess moisture

lowers the deliverable heat content in the coal and increases the weight
of coal. Dewatering equipments includes

120
less costly vibrating screens, filters, or centrifuges to the more costly
heated rotary kilns or
dryer units.
Washing or cleaning of coal
Washing of coal represents the most important step of coal preparation.
The raw run-of-mine coal must require some selective qualitative and
quantitative analysis for finding out the most suitable operating
conditions for cleaning of coal to obtain the desired quality. Among
these analyses washability test is most important.

Coal Cleaning

The components of coal which comprise of Shale, Clay, Sandstone,

Silica, Pyrite, Gypsum, Sulphates and Phosphates constitute the
mineral impurity in coal. Impurities can be of two types:
a) Inherent or Fixed and
b) Extraneous or Free.

The first category gets associated to coal during its formation period
while the second one gets associated during the mining activities,
storage and transportation, after the coal is formed. Hence, Coal
Cleaning, as the name suggests, is the method implemented for the
removal/reduction of mineral impurities from the coal and for better
and more efficient usage. The inherent or fixed impurities constitute
very negligible part and are also very difficult to clean unless some
special techniques like acid or alkali leaching are employed. Thus we
always concentrate on the cleaning of Free or Extraneous Impurities.
Broad classification of coal cleaning processes can be seen as in Figure
1.

121
ADVANTAGES OF COAL CLEANING
The benefits of coal cleaning can be listed as below:
i. Cleaned coal is more uniform in size, composition, calorific
value and moisture content.
ii. By reducing the ash or impurity content, coal cleaning
contributes to reduced slagging and fouling in furnaces, thus
increasing boiler on-stream availability, decreasing maintenance
and lowering overall operating cost.
iii. The transportation and storage cost is reduced. It also leads
to less ash disposal problem.
iv. Due to lowered Sulphur content(Coal from NE Indian states)
, clean coal is greener towards the environment by preventing
possibility of acid precipitation and other environmental
hazards. It also eliminates the setting up of Flue Gas
Desulphurization units.
122
v. Coal cleaning can be used to tailor the coal to costumer
specification, thus creating a higher value of the product.
vi. Sometimes the caking properties of coal improve due to
enrichment of vitrain.
vii.TO MEET STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR USE OF
COAL etc.
PROXIMATE ANALYSIS
Determination of moisture, volatile matter, ash and fixed carbon
in coal comprises its proximate analysis. It suggests us the
overall composition of coal without incorporating elemental
analysis. It also gives a picture of uniformity in the coal sample.
Determination of Moisture Content:
Approximate 1 g fine coal was taken in a weighed porcelain
crucible and was placed in a hot air oven at 100 – 110 degree C
for 1 hour. Then the loss in weight of the coal due to this
heating gave us the moisture per cent of coal used.
Determination of Volatile Matter in Coal
It is the loss in weight of moisture free powdered coal when
heated in a crucible fitted with a loosely fitting cover in a muffle
furnace at 950 degree C for exactly 7 minutes.
Determination of Ash in Coal
It is the weight of residue left in a crucible after complete
combustion of a previously weighed quantity of powdered coal
in an open crucible (i.e. in the presence of air) at 750 degree C
in a muffle furnace for duration of 90 minutes.
Determination of Fixed Carbon
It was mathematically calculated and was determined indirectly
by deducting the sum of total of moisture, volatile matter and
ash percentage from 100.
123
The proximate analysis was carried out for 3 specimens
from the same sample to check the correctness and to
ensure uniform result throughout. It was reported in
tabulated manner and average value of Ash % and Fixed
Carbon % were obtained.

While analysing coal sample the following data is available –

W1 = initial weight of the sample
W2 = final weight of the sample
W3 = weight of residue after burning carbon
M = percentage moisture
L= percentage loss of weight
C = Fixed Carbon

Match the component analysed in (A) with the Result in (B)

Analysis for (A) Results(B)

P- % Moisture A - (L-M)
𝑊3
Q- Fixed Carbon B- x 100
𝑊1
𝑊1−𝑊2
R- Volatile Matter C- x100
𝑊1
(𝑊1−𝑊2)−𝑊3
S- Ash D– x 100Ans : P +
𝑊1
C; Q + D; R + A; S+B

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136
 WASHABILITY STUDIES
Cleaning or washing process generally depends upon the
differences in density between coal particles and its impurities.
The extent of removal of free dirt or the amenability of a coal to
improvement in quality is more commonly known as the
„Washability‟ of coal and is usually carried out by Float and
Sink test. This Washability study helps us in design of
washeries and coal processing plants, in techno-economic
evaluation and day-to-day plant control.
Float and Sink Test
Why this Test ? – For finding washing characteristics.
Sample preparation
The crushed coal sample was sieved and size fraction of -2 mm
+ 1 mm was obtained.
Solution
The organic liquids used in this method were Carbon Tetrachloride (sp.
Gravity 1.595), Benzene (sp. Gravity 0.878) and Bromoform (sp.
Gravity 2.889). By inter-mixing these liquids, liquids of specific
gravities 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 were prepared. In 250 ml beakers.
Instrument : Hydrometer to check density &Weighing Scale
Lab arrangement
The beakers were arranged in the increasing order of their
specific gravity.
Method
50 g sample was first placed in the lowest specific gravity fluid i.e.
1.30. The fraction lighter than the liquid did float and the heavier
fractions did sink. The sink was then dried and placed in the next
heavier liquid and as earlier, the float and sink fractions were separated,
and the sink was again put into next higher density liquid, it was
carried out up to the 1.80 fraction. In this way the fractions from
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different densities were collected, dried and weighed. The ash analysis
of all coal was done and reported.

The specific gravity was measured using Hydrometer; when any

deviation was found w.r.t. the desired specific gravity, further
organic liquids were added to achieve correct specific gravity.
Observations

Fig. 2: Float and Sink Test

Washability Curve

With detailed calculations for total float-ash %,

total sink-ash % and cumulative yield up to
middle
fractions w.r.t. yield %, washability curves were
drawn and reported.

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Washability Test
The washability test method can be used to investigate the cleaning
characteristics of coarse and fine-coal fractions. However, especially
with the fine-coal fractions, this test method may not be applicable for
low-rank coals.
Washability characteristics of coal is applied
(1) To find the relative ease for separation of coal from the refuse based
on the difference in specific gravity.
(2) To find the effectiveness of coal washing in particular process.
(3) To characterize the type and amount of impurities
(4) To select the optimum plant operation
(5) To gather the information for designing a separation plant.

The washability test is done by float and sink method. The float and
sink test is an important analytical technique for the cleaning of coal in
most effective way.

Float and Sink Test

In the float and sink method, the freshly mined coal lumps are first
crushed into different size
fractions such as, 50-25, 25-13, 13-06, 06-03, 03-0.5 mm through
screen analysis. The different fractions of the coal are separated by
washing with different specific gravity organic solutions like carbon
tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, benzene or aqueous solution of zinc
chloride or other inorganic salt. Each of the individual size fractions are
subjected to sequential float and sink tests with different density liquid.
The liquid solutions of varying density with a very small difference in
specific gravity such as 0.01 are prepared within the range of 1.25 and
1.9. Sometimes the density range may be broadened upto 2.25
depending on the type of coal. The different size coal samples are
immersed into organic solution of known specific gravity, then the float
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and sink fractions of coal obtained in the washabilty test are separated
out. The ash content of each fraction is determined. The float-sink test
can be performed on samples ranging in size from bulk samples to
bench-scale of coal samples.

By using liquid of different specific gravity the coal samples are

divided into number of fractions with increasing order of specific
gravity and hence, of ash value.

From the results of the test, three curves are plotted.

i) Total float-ash curve

ii) Total sink-ash curve
iii) Washablity characteristic curve or instantaneous ash curve.

By the analysis of plots i) and ii), as shown in Figure 1, the ash content
of the clean product
(float) and waste material (sink) are obtained by washing with a
particular specific gravity of
liquid.

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 Figure 1. Characteristic curve of Float and Sink test.
Jig washer is one of the important one. In a jig washer, coal is
supported on a perforated tray and a continuous periodic flow of water
is applied in both upward and downward direction. While washing by
this way, clean coal is accumulated in the upper layer of the bed while
unwanted heavy non-coal part settles at the bottom. The water may be
pulsated by various means. Density of the washing media is based on
the FLOAT & SINK TEST.

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 Figure 2. Baum Jig

It consists of a U-shaped chamber, divided vertically by a partition in

two parts. One section is washing chamber and another one is air
chamber. Feed coal is fed in the washing compartment and compressed
air is passed in air compartment for generation of pulse in water.
Cleaned coal carried out by the water flow over a weir and the refuse
sinks at the bottom. Refuse is removed time to time from the washer.

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 SLURRY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

Slurry pumps solutions

In India for the first time, at Kudremukh Iron Ore Mines, slurry
transportation system was adopted successfully. There, magnetite ore
ground fine, was transported in slurry form from the Mine to
Mangalore Port. Since then, many slurry transportation projects have
been taken up. Very recently, iron ore fines from Bailadila Deposit
11C/14 was transported in slurry form to Visakhapatnam Port by M/s
Essar. Slurry transportation covering short distances is also adopted at
Heavy Mineral mine sites where heavy minerals are mined on sea-
shore. Example : Slurry transportation of heavy mineral sand slurry
system at Indian Rare Earth Complex, transportation of washed under
size coal, transportation of fly ash in Power Plants, transportation of
washed slime/slurry/tailings of mineral beneficiation plants to tailings
dams.

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APPLICATION

Slurry transport uses several methods :

hydraulic conveying;
conventional lean slurry conveying; and
high concentration slurry disposal (HCSD).

HCSD, is a relatively modern approach, which is used to transfer high

throughputs of fine fly ash over long distances (>10 km) using high
pressure diaphragm pumps with velocities of around 2 m/s. Ash
disposal is simple as the ash solidifies easily and the system does not
produce the waste water or leachate problems which can often be
associated with ash lagoons/ponds.

ADVANTAGES

DIS-ADVANTAGES

System description

Case Studies

Slurry pumps are heavy and robust centrifugal pumps, capable of handling tough and abrasive duties. Designed for
excellent performance, low energy consumption, long wear life and easy maintenance.
The horizontal and vertical pumps serve a wide range of slurry transport applications. Manufaturers also offer
engineering consultation and state-of-the-art pump sizing and selection software.
Various designs are available to cover all hydraulic transportation needs in the widest variety of process applications
including grinding circuits, tailings disposal, filter feed, dredging, hydro cyclone feed and general slurry transfer. We
are the OEM with original drawings and design details for the following brands: Metso, Svedala, Denver, Sala, Orion
and Thomas.

Extra heavy dutyhard metal Extra heavy duty rubber Heavy duty hard metal Heavy duty rubber
lined lined

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Mining duty hard metal Mining duty Heavy dutydredge Wet end
rubber lined conversion kit

Recessed and channel Tank pumps Sump pumps Froth pumps

impellers - horizontal

Recessed and channel Slurry seals Slurry hoses Material reclaim

impellers - vertical pumping
Pipeline transportation technology: An overview

The demand for transport in India is increasing very rapidly due to increased social interaction between people and
economic development. This has increased passenger and freight movement across the country.

The current transportation needs are met by a combination of various modes. To develop a well-designed
transportation system in the country in the near future, it is necessary that the technological and economic
characteristics of the various modes be appreciated.

Application of slurry/pipeline transportation

Slurry/Pipelines form an unique mode of transportation. They can
move large quantities of certain types of commodities, mainly fluids,
over long distances at relatively low cost. While transportation of fluids
are widely adopted for crude oil, petroleum products etc; minerals in
slurry form has gain more application due to several advantages.
The operations are -
- environmentally friendly,
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 - dependable and continuous.
- The pipelines can be laid on a wide variety of terrains
without much difficulty.
Compared to normal surface mode like railways and road vehicles, the
following advantages are particularly attractive:
i) They do not require the return of ‘empties’ to the starting point and
as such are ideal for uni-directional traffic.
ii) They are insensitive to surface conditions such as storms, inclement
weather, etc.
iii) Operating costs are low.
iv) Capital cost being the major cost of transportation, inflationary
influences have a small effect on transport cost.
v) They are environmentally friendly.
Types of technology
The current status of pipeline technology can be broadly classified into
three categories:
 Conventional or ‘energy’ pipelines
 Slurry pipelining
 Capsule pipelining
Conventional or energy pipelines
Use of pipelines to transport water, oil, natural gas (viz. single phase
fluids) is a well known technology and is known as conventional
pipelines. Since the transport of energy is the prime objective in most
of these pipelines, they are also known as energy pipelines.

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The mechanics of such single phase fluid flow has been studied in
detail and the design and operational phases have been particularly
perfected. The result is that this form of transport has been
acknowledged as the most economical form for bulk and long distance
transport of certain energy items like natural gas and oil. In India, we
have an impressive list of crude oil, product and gas pipelines
installation, both on shore as well as off shore. Currently, all the
existing oil product pipelines, totaling about 4,000 km in length, are
owned by the Indian Oil Corporation and the total transport of oil
product is about 16 MTPA. Recently (1997), a new petroleum product
pipeline company, Petronet India, has been formed by three major
public sector petroleum companies. Petronet has plans to lay nearly
1,700 km of pipelines in the near future to transport initially 18 MTPA
of petroleum products initially.
Even though the conventional pipeline technology is in near-perfect condition, the future is likely to witness further
progress in this mode due to developments in areas such as:

1. Route location through GPS and related technologies.

2. Development of new materials for pipes and linings.

3. Newer construction techniques.

4. Development of drag and turbulence reducing additive materials such as polyox, CDR1,etc.

5. Prevention of pipeline corrosion.

Slurry pipelining

In this mode, the solids are first ground to fine grain size and made into a slurry with a liquid medium. The slurry is
then pumped through the pipes to a desired destination. Even though the concept of slurry pipelining was known at
the turn of the century, it was only in 1957 that it became a practical reality. The first long distance pipeline to be
established was in Arizona, USA, to transport 0.4 MTPA of gilsonite over a distance of 115 km. Since then the
applications are growing. Table 1 shows details of some important long distance slurry pipelines. The wide range of
materials handled and the enormous capacity of a slurry pipeline is noteworthy. For example, a simple 20 cm
diameter pipeline can handle about 250 tonnes of solid (say coal) per day!

Slurry pipeline transportation is particularly advantageous in those processes where the raw material is to be first
pulverized for further processing. Thus iron ores meant for pelletization, coal for firing thermal stations,

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 Figure 1. Coal transportation costs.

lime stone for cement industry, wood chips for paper industry are
some examples of the situations where transportation by slurry pipelines can be a viable alternative mode.

Figure 1 shows the comparative costs of coal transportation by slurry pipeline, barge and rail for the USA.

It is interesting to note that pipeline transport is shown as being less economic than rail transport when existing rail is
utilized, but becomes more attractive when new or upgraded rail has to be used. Although river transport is the most
economic proposition, it is only applicable where suitable navigable waterway systems exist, such as the Rhine or
Mississippi regions.

Some of the areas in which slurry pipelining is likely to have an impact in the near future due to development of
related technologies are:

1. Vertical hoisting of minerals (hydraulic hoisting, seabed mining, bore hole mixing, etc.).

2. Coal water mixtures and coal–oil mixtures.

3. Coarse-particle conveying.

4. Mineral waste transport and disposal.

5. Ship loading and unloading

6. Non-aqueous slurry media (oil, methanol and liquefied carbon dioxide.)

Improved techniques, changes in economic conditions and environmental pressures and concern about surface waste
disposal in the near future are likely to make slurry pipeline technology a viable mode of transport in a large number
of industrial and infrastructure development activities. While the fuel policy committee,
Government of India, has noted that coal slurry pipelines is more suitable to meet the fuel requirement of thermal
stations (which is fairly large and regular), the requisite R & D efforts towards general use of slurry pipelining in the
country is inadequate.

Capsule pipelining

The major limitations of slurry pipelining – pulverized solids and its contact with the transporting fluid is not always
acceptable. When it is required that the solids to be transported should not come in contact with the fluid and that it
be transported in an integral fashion, capsule pipelining provides a solution. In this, the material is put in cylindrical
containers (capsules), and a train of capsules is pushed by the fluid medium. Each capsule is only slightly smaller
than the pipe; say of the order of 0.9 diameter of the pipe. This technology, which originated in the early sixties, has
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received considerable attention in developed countries, notably in Canada and the USA and due to the efforts of
R&D many successful applications have been reported. The characteristics of solids transported, viz. their size and
relative density, which are important in slurry mode, are particularly unimportant in capsule pipelining. Thus it is
possible to use this technology to transport many kinds of articles, as for e.g. finished products, grains, corrosive
materials etc. An interesting application of capsule pipelining has been in the handling of radioactive materials in
nuclear plants. Marcoule and Chinon nuclear plants in France use capsule pipelining to transport irradiated fuel
elements from reactor to the cooling and storage pools thus avoiding costly radiation safety features necessary in
surface transport.

A variation of capsule pipelining to transport coal is the Coal Log Pipeline (CLP) 3 technology. This is an emerging
technology to transport coal hydraulically through a pipeline. The coal logs are manufactured at coal mines by
compaction or extrusion processes and then injected into a water-filled pipeline for long distance transportation to
power plants. The University of Missouri, Columbia patented the process in 1990. The current status of this
technology indicates that CLP can be expected to play an increasing role in coal freight transport in the 21st century.

Another variation of capsule pipelining is pneumatic pipelining where air is the driving fluid. A proven technology of
the kind is the ‘capsule liner’ of M/s. Sumi-tomo Metal Industries4. This is a multipurpose mass transport system
consisting of trains of wheeled capsules loaded with freight in a pipeline using low air pressure. The capsule trains
run in the pipeline at regular intervals making transportation safe, automatic and reliable. This system is particularly
suitable for a range of materials including limestone, coal, ore, sand and excavated earth. An example of capsule
liner usage is the one at Tachigi Prefecture, Japan, which transports 2 MTPA of limestone over 3.2 km in a pipeline
of 1.0 m diameter with an energy consumption of 0.7 kWh/ton km. The ‘capsule liner’ system is superior to both
truck and conveyor systems and Sumitomo claims an operating efficiency of over 95% in its installations over the
last ten years.

There does not appear to be any capsule pipelining application in India. Further, no serious R & D efforts on the
adoption of this emerging technology appear to be in progress in major Indian research institutions.

Pipeline transportation plays an important role in the matrix of transportation modes of a country, especially in the
transportation of fluids and certain bulk materials. The different pipeline transportation technologies currently
available for implementation have been described.

Slurry pipeline and capsule pipeline are emerging technologies for long-distance transportation of coal, limestone
and similar critical bulk material. In view of their special characteristics – safety, reliability and their
environmentally friendly nature, slurry and capsule pipelines are considered to be crucially important technologies in
USA. It is believed that pipeline technology will play an increasing role in freight transport in the 21st century with
far-reacting implications. This calls for increased R & D efforts to internalize these technologies for successful
application in our country.

1. Blizzard, G. E., in Hydraulics of Pipelines (ed. Fowler, D. T. and Wegener, D. H.), Am. Soc. Civil
Engineers, New York, 1994, pp. 172–175.
2. Jacobs, B. E. A., Design of Slurry Transport Systems, Elsevier Applied Sci., London, 1991.
3. Capsule Pipeline Research Center (CPRC), University of Missouri, Columbia, Internet search, 1997.
4. The Pneumatic Capsule Pipeline System (PCPS – ‘Capsule lines’); Sumitomo Industries Ltd., Japan, Internet
search, 1997.

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 SAMPLING
OBJECTIVE OF SAMPLING

The objective of Sampling in mineral processing is to estimate grades and contents of sampling units in an unbiased
manner and with an acceptable and affordable degree of precision.

Why sampling ?

Mineral deposits are sampled for several reasons including –

(a) Resource evaluation,
(b) Determination of the physical and chemical characteristics of material, and
(c) Process amenability.

Generally speaking, sampling is the process of selecting a part of a whole such that the part is an unbiased
estimate for the whole. A whole in mineral processing is referred to as a sampling unit such as mill feed, dewatered
concentrate or bullion. This is also a dynamic stochastic system when sampled during transfer, and as static
stochastic system when sampled whilst stationery.

Sampling for feasibility studies

Precise quantification of the processing characteristics of the plant feed material does require the additional
sampling, much information can be obtained from the initial feasibility sampling program that can guide and even
determine.

Sampling for plant design during the feasibility phase of a project can be critical to the overall success of the project
but this is all too often minimized. It is carried out by geologists and mining/mineral engineers for –

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 - Identification and quantification of ore reserves
- Sampling for communition and the amenability of the ore for processing is left for later bulk sampling
programs.

Types of samples –

- Core drilling - Reverse circulation drilling

- Auger drilling - Other drilling methods
- Channel sampling - Trench sampling
- Geochemical and environmental sampling - Water samples
- Blast hole drill sampling - ROM ore feed
- Crusher product sampling - Sampling of pulps
- Sampling of loaded carbon, slags, flue dust etc.
- Sampling of bullion - Sampling of liquids

Core Drill Samples

This is the preferred method of recovering material from within the ore body and is also the most expensive.
General, cores are generated using exploratory drills. Single or Double barrel core drilling is adopted for core
recovery.

Coning and Quartering

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Channel sampling

Where the material to be sampled is exposed to the surface or in underground workings, channel sampling is used. A
channel of dimensions similar to the dia. of the core is excavated. The resulting samples are chips similar to those
recovered through reverse circulation drilling. The material can be geologically logged prior to excavation.

Trench Sampling

Where the material to be sampled is close to the surface, trenches are excavated to gain access to the material and
samples are taken either as channel samples within the trenches or as selected samples of the excavated material.
This results in broken material.

Grab Sampling

When material is exposed on surface or underground, it is possible to grab samples on a random basis as it is mined
or transported. Such samples maybe useful for obtaining overall averages for large amounts of material but not useful
for identifying material characteristics at a specific locations.

Stop Belt sampling for ROM material

The feed belt is stopped, a former placed on it and all the material within the former is removed into a bucket before
restarting the belt. This method is recognized by certain national and international standards as the reference
sampling method when checking for bias in automatic samplers.
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Automatic sampling of ROM Ore

Now been developed where the samples are taken in the direction of the material flow.

Primary cross belt samplers are easily mounted on coveyor. Normally, do not damage the conveyor belt when
correctly installed.

Crusher Product Sampling

- Rotary plate divider

- For continuous or timed dry material splitting
- Suitable for primary sampling and secondary division
- Must be consistently fed by vibratory feeder or feeder conveyor
- Ideal sample divider for bulk materials handling systems

Sampling of pulps

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Manual sampling is usually employed but is not reliable
- There is no guarantee that the samples will be unbiased
- Precision of the measurement is much lower than can be obtained with mechanical methods
The mechanical systems are usually of two types, viz. those with cross stream cutters, and the
arc type rotary cutters.,

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156
Sampling is defined as taking a small portion of a whole mass that accurately represents the
whole mass.

Sampling of ores and processed products from mills, processing plants and mines.

One problem faced by mining activities is the material to be sampled was formed in the earth
hundreds of million years ago, and it is variable, depending upon the existing conditions at the
time it was formed and the occurrences in the millions of years since. Precious metal ores are
extremely variable, since the mineralization can be local, widely dispersed with a pattern or
without any pattern. Other types of ores can vary less in composition, but almost no ore is
homogenous.

Therefore, a knowledge of the material to be sampled must be factored into any sampling
equation, for it to be accurate or workable. In the table, below, is a basic sampling equation that
relates particle size to the amount of sample to be taken, with constants derived for various
types of ore bodies. The values for "M" are the sample size required in pounds. The values of k

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are the constant derived for differing ore bodies, in this example gold. The values of "n" are a
probability factor that attempts to associate the probability that any grain is the grain of value,
in this case gold. The values of "d" are the diameter of the largest particle of ore to be sampled.
I have found that it can be useful in sampling, when used by personnel that understand the ore,
and sampling,

The table, above, relates the particle size of the material being sampled to the sample size
required for a representative sample. As one can see, the finer the material being sampled, the
smaller the size of sample required. Taken into account is the statistical fact that the finer
particles have many more individual particles per pound than do the coarser particles and that
since ore is made up of many different materials, the finer particles are much more likely to
contain all of the individual elements of the whole sample.

The mass of a sample taken to represent a particular ore depends upon the type of ore. For instance, if a ore of a
particular particle size, has a regular and highly distributed metal, such as copper, in it, the size of the sample would

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be small, it might only be 5-10 pounds from a lot. However if the ore has a very low grade of copper in it, is sparsely
distributed, with little or no pattern, it will take a much larger sample, 200 - 400 pounds, to obtain a representative
sample of the whole lot. The characteristics of the ore to be sampled can have an exponential effect on the volume of
the material to be sampled.

This is caused by two major factors, one the mineral, in this case copper, may only be of a particle size of 1 mm or
finer. Therefore, to obtain a reasonable statistical accuracy in a sampling program, the material to be sampled should
be crushed to approximately 1 mm, to effectively expose the mineral or metal equally to the sampling process. And
second, the mineral or metal may be widely present (such as in a rich ore body), or sparsely present (such as in a low
grade ore body). In a low grade ore, there may only be 15 - 50 1 mm particles of mineral or metal in a cubic foot of
ore (150 - 200 lbs).

So, it is easy to see, the finer the ore to be sampled is crushed BEFORE sampling, the easier it will be to obtain a
representative sample, and the smaller the sample mass that would be required.

How to Obtain A Representative Sample.

In a process plant, or mine, the preferred method of obtaining sample material, is from a moving stream, such as a
conveyor belt, a slurry pipe line, or perhaps from a chute that a stream of ore gravity flows. How the sample is
obtained, the number of increments and the size of each increment, will often determine the degree of probability that
a sample is indeed representative. Generally speaking, the Best way to take a incremental sample from a moving
stream, is to take a Cross Section of that stream, with each cross section having a pre-determined mass, and taking
this cross section incremental sample a pre-determined number of times per hour (or unit of time).

Selecting the proper equipment for the task, and using as much automation as possible will eliminate many potential
errors, and is very important if the sample is to have a +90% probability of being representative. The best sample
plan and the worst equipment will produce only mediocre results. As in all good plans, every piece must work
together, to achieve a quality result.

Sampling is generally comprised of a number of steps, the primary sample, the secondary split, the tertiary split, and
so on. For sampling ores with maximum particle sizes of 2 inches or less, a cross stream sampling device is usually
the best choice. Depending upon the material being sampled, it is generally desired to crush the primary sample, to
obtain a smaller particle size and increase the probability that succeeding splits will accurately represent of the whole
mass being sampled.

Understanding Sampling Techniques

by Chris Ralph

There are a lot of differences between the operations of successful mining companies and ones that
become financial failures, but one of the consistent key differences between them is their sampling
programs. One is reminded of the old saying about the three most important things to remember about
investing in real estate—they are location, location, and location. For mining it is similar, and perhaps
the three most important things in designing a successful mining project are sampling, sampling,
sampling.

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No mineral deposit is uniformly rich; in fact, most are extremely variable. If the property is a good
one, some spots may be rich; some will be lower grade but still rich
enough to be profitable; but many will be too low-grade to work
profitably. When rock is too low-grade to make money, it is waste and
should not be processed. Large operators spend huge amounts of money
on sampling. They have a good idea before mining begins how much
waste and how much ore they have. Successful mining companies know
that the investment necessary for a good sampling program is well
worth the time and dollars expended. Far too often small operators, in a
mistaken attempt to reduce costs, conduct little or no sampling before
beginning to mine.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been told things like, “We
can’t afford the costs and delays of waiting to sample,” or, “Old Tom
worked this place in the 30s and he told us it was rich,” or, “We know
it’s rich, so there is no need to sample.”

I knew one guy who told me exactly that—I know it’s rich, so there is no need to sample. He sold his
house in the Bay Area of California for around $300,000 in the mid-1980s and invested it all in some
quality used mining equipment. He bought a used dozer, front-end loader, a smaller dump truck and a
nice Gardener-Denver placer plant. Then he and his two sons spent 3 months working that really “rich”
property—the exact same one he told me was so rich he didn’t need to sample. Want to know his total
take for three months commercial-scale mining? He got only three ounces of gold—mostly fines. That
was not even enough to pay for the fuel he consumed, let alone any wages for him and his sons. He
lost his shirt in his placer mining venture. A similar fate happens to commercial mining operations that
don’t do their sampling “homework” beforehand.

If you are running a commercial operation and your total operating costs are $10 per yard to process
gravel, how much $3 gravel should you process? None—because you are losing $7 per yard! How
much $50 gravel should you process? As much as possible! Unfortunately, without good sampling you
have no idea what it is you are putting in the hopper. Is it $50 material or $3 material? You might have
some kind of guess, but who really knows if you don’t have samples! You will find out eventually, but
if you ran money-losing rock the money will be already gone before you find out!

Concepts of Sampling

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Designing a sampling program. Probably the first thing one needs to determine is what the goal of
your sampling program is. Mark Twain tells a funny story of miners seeking to sell their property who
would search for hours to find some small piece of ore that was high grade. That tiny fragment,
perhaps the size of a walnut, would be taken in for assaying. The results would show extremely rich
ore, with perhaps hundreds of ounces of silver and many ounces of gold
per ton. In selling his claim, the miner would use the assay as if
that reflected the average grade of all the rock the mine produced, even
though there might not be even half a pound of that type of rock in 100
tons of ore. That’s how Twain got his saying that the definition of a
mine was “a hole in the ground with a liar standing next to it.”

Using poorly planned sampling methods is a technique guaranteed to

give poor results. When beginning a sampling project, it’s important to
plan what you are doing in advance. When designing a sampling
program the first thing that has to be considered is: What are you trying
to determine? Are you exploring for new deposits or trying to
characterize the average grade of a known vein or other deposit?

The goals of a prospecting or exploration sampling program are not the

same as the goals in ore characterization sampling.

In prospecting or exploration, one is looking for ore deposits—concentrations of mineralization that

would be worthy of further investigation. In an exploration project, the miner is looking to find new
ore bodies, paystreaks or patches of nuggets. The goal in this type of operation is to identify likely
locations for deposits and prospect there to see if some valuable deposits can be found.

In sampling, one is taking a more or less known deposit and testing it to characterize the extent and
grade of deposit, determine its size, typical grade and other characteristics. This is usually done when
considering a commercial mining operation in order to make an economic analysis or feasibility study
to determine if it is economic to mine that deposit. It is important to recognize that most of the gravel
in many placer mines is waste (the same is true for vein rock in most hard rock mines). When you are
prospecting, you are searching for the valuable parts of those deposits, while in sampling, you are
deciding the typical grade and size—what is ore and what is not.

Nugget effect. Designing a good sampling program requires an understanding of the deposit itself.

The famous “nugget effect” occurs when a sample includes a nugget or other piece of high-grade
material, giving an overall value much higher than the true average. Some deposits are like chocolate
chip cookies with a few “chips” of high grade spread thinly through the “dough” of the whole deposit.
Many placers tend to be like this and as a result these types of deposits are very difficult to sample as
you will get a few samples with very high values where the good stuff was included, and many more
that are very low grade where the high grade was not included in the assay. Larger volume bulk
samples and a combination of both the high and the low results need to be considered to give a true
average. There are hard rock deposits with characteristics like this, and they are among the most
difficult to sample properly. Dealing with these kinds of deposits require a good understanding of the

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size and dispersion of the mineralization.

Sampling Placers. Sampling of placers is difficult, as placer deposits are typically stratified with
increased concentration of values in layers, especially on bedrock. Often the paying layer of bedrock
may extend one or more feet into bedrock because of crevices. If the placer values are coarse in size,
the nugget effect can be especially bad, making the determination of a
true average extremely difficult. Checking placers by fire assay almost
always gives misleading (higher than expected) results as the fire assay
captures gold within fragments of quartz and other mineralization that
normal placer operations simply cannot recover. Good placer sampling
requires larger-sized bulk samples and accurate collection of materials
from the bedrock or other paying strata such as false bedrock or flood
layers. It is also much better to test a placer using recovery methods
similar to those that will likely be used when the deposit is mined.

Sampling mine dumps. Sometimes old dumps contain enough

mineralization that they can be economically mined and processed
using updated methods. Special techniques, which consider the layered
structure of mine dumps, must be used since mine dumps are created in
a way far different from natural hardrock deposits. Channels cut across the surface of the dump need to
be arranged perpendicular to the layers of the dump—a direction that is usually parallel to the haulage
track on which the dump was built.

Sampling hardrock. Effective hardrock orebody sampling requires some understanding of the
structure of the ore deposit. Sometimes this can be difficult when the geologist is considering a new
deposit—what direction does the deposit go? Some deposits have sharp contacts with the country rock,
and some just slowly grade from ore into waste. Different techniques are required for surface or sub-
surface deposits. In drilling, the angle and depth of the sample are designed to go (as much as possible)
across the structure of the deposit so that a true sample across the deposit can be obtained. In sampling
hardrock deposits, there are a number of types of samples a geologist might take.

Grab samples are samples of rock material from a small area, often just a few pieces or even a single
piece of rock “grabbed” from a face, dump or outcrop. These are the most common types of samples
collected when surveying an area or beginning exploration for hardrock deposits in the field. The
sample usually consists of material that is taken to be representative of a specific type of rock or
mineralization. It is more associated with exploration programs.

Composite chip samples consist of a series of small chips collected over a larger area. The sample
source may be a line or a grid laid out on the face of an exposed outcrop. Composite samples are
normally taken from similar sorts of material but are specifically intended as representative samples, so
the balance of the material they represent is taken into consideration. The procedure is to collect small
chips and pieces of rock over a large area to make the sample as representative of the material as a
whole as is possible. A composite sample is typically collected to determine the average grade of the
mineralization present. If the area covered is too large, the information as to what is present (i.e., small
high-grade portions) will be lost to the averaging effect of this sample method.

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High-grade samples are more like the type of samples Mark Twain mentioned. A high-grade sample
consists of selected pieces of the most highly mineralized material, specifically excluding any less
mineralized rock. As a result, a high-grade sample is not representative of the overall mineralization
found at that location. A high-grade sample might be collected to get an idea of what the richest
possible values are, or to provide material for certain types of trace element analyses. If a very
selective sample like this does not return the expected high-grade results, then it is unlikely that a
significant amount of valuable mineralization is present, so it is sometimes used as a “worst case” type
of test. When a high-grade sample is collected it is important to label it as a high-grade sample, so its
values will not be misinterpreted as representing the “average” values of a deposit.

Channel samples consist of small chips of rock collected over a specified linear interval. Channel
sampling is used for veins and other structures exposed on the surface. The objective is to cut a linear
channel across the vein or orebody in order to obtain the most representative sample possible for the
designated interval. Most of the time, chip channel samples are collected in succession along a sample
line that is laid out in advance using a tape measure, and is designed to parallel the true width of the
deposit. Often the chip channel samples are collected along surface trenches or the floors or walls of
various underground workings.

When chip channel sampling is conducted along a rock face, often a piece of canvas or plastic is laid
out for the material to fall on so as to avoid contamination and make the collection of the sample
easier. Sample intervals are set at a specified width, usually ranging from 1 to 20 feet, commonly 5
feet. Similarly, with rotary drilling, the geologist can capture a certain length of the chips collected
along a drill hole length, and produce a composited chip sample out of a drill hole.

A century ago, prospectors in the field sampled hardrock deposits by crushing any suspected ore and
carefully panning out the heavy materials, hopefully including gold.

Pan sampling was utilized by the old timers to test veins and other deposits by collecting a sample,
crushing it to fine sand, and carefully panning the results to see what
heavy minerals, such as gold, remain. With experience, the old timers
learned to correlate the amount of color they saw in a pan full of
crushed vein material with the approximate ounces per ton reading one
would get from a normal fire assay. A very large percentage of the
hardrock gold mines across the world were originally discovered using
some variation of this method, especially in combination with
techniques for pocket tracing (the method for following placer
fragments up a drainage to its source). Many small mines were run for
years based mostly on “panned” assays of channel samples. The
advantage of this method is that it is cheap and quick, and it gives a
good evaluation of coarse free gold, but also shows up any sulfides or
other heavy metallic minerals. Because sample results are there to see in
only a few minutes, many samples can be taken and many veins can be
tested in a short period. The disadvantage to this type of analysis is that it won’t capture extremely fine
gold or any gold tied up in sulfides or tellurides. Sometimes crushed sulfides are hard to recognize and

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rich tellurides are hard to distinguish from things like pyrite. Some very rich deposits (including those
at the Carlin Trend in Nevada) have only very fine gold, which cannot be panned by this method. The
other part of this method is that you still need to take multiple samples to really characterize the vein.
You can’t determine the whole story from one pan because even if you get a pennyweight of gold in
one pan, you won’t know what is typical until you have taken a few pans.

Geochemical sampling involves collecting and analyzing things like soils, stream sediments and
rocks, and testing for certain chemical elements that are associated with valuable mineral deposits.
These methods are extremely efficient exploration tools and a few well-located sediment samples can
be used to test vast areas for potential mineral deposits. The presence of these trace elements can be
nearly impossible to recognize in a hand specimen, but lab analysis by methods such as Atomic
Absorption (AA) can reveal elevated levels that are only in the parts per million range. Many well-
known ore deposits were discovered using these methods.

Geochemical sampling works because it is fairly normal that large hardrock gold and silver deposits
have a surrounding envelope of weak mineralization, also known as a dispersion halo. They are formed
by “leakage” of mineralizing fluids into the surrounding rocks, and are best developed around large
bulk-type deposits and those deposits that form in rocks that are porous enough to allow for fluid flow.
These halo areas have elevated concentrations of metals commonly found in association with gold
deposits. The concentrations are low, but significantly higher than the normal background levels found
in un-mineralized rock. A variety of elements can be analyzed, typically focusing on expected
elements that commonly associate with known deposits. As an example, typical elevated elements that
may be found around epithermal gold or silver deposits include mercury, antimony and arsenic.
Knowledge of these pathfinder elements and which elements are associated with certain types of
deposits is critical for interpreting geochemical test results.

Even after the discovery of a possible new deposit, geochemical sampling is important in delineating
the areas of mineralization. For example, geochemical sampling of soils is often employed to outline
the general area of mineralization at shallow depths where outcrops of bedrock are minimal or
nonexistent. This can then be used in designing drilling programs. Sample results for certain elements
are often plotted on a map to locate regions of elevated concentration.

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 Multiple Choice Questions

1. Grab sampling consists in:

(a) Picking pieces of ore at one place only.
(b) Picking pieces of ore at random to make up a sample.
(c) Picking pieces of coal only.
(d) Picking pieces of ore in a grid fashion.
2. The spacing of the trenches pits and boreholes depend on:
(a) The length of the ore body.
(b) The modes of occurrence of the deposits.
(c) The depth of the deposits.
(d) The outcrops of the deposits.
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3. For determining moisture percentage, this is one of the cheapest and rapid sampling methods –
(a) assay sampling (b) grab sampling
(c) table sampling (d) coning and quartering
4. This is an old Cornish method often used to dividing samples of material and dependent on the skill of the
operator and not to be used for accurate sampling
(a) Jones riffle (b) coning and quartering
(c) XRF analysis (d) on - stream analysis

5. The grade which is available from a property after actual mining is:
(a) Computed grade.
(b) Effective grade.
(c) Run - of - mine grade.
(d) Pit head grade.
6. When the material collected to represent a rock type, or a formation or an ore body in
the quantitative sense then it is termed as:
(a) Specimen.
(b) Sample.
(c) Both specimen and sample can be used.
(d) Quantitative specimen.
7. Coning and quartering is:
(a) A mining method employed in unconsolidated ground.
(b) A mining method employed for the diamond mining.
(c) A method employed for obtaining a laboratory sample from the field sample.
(d) A cutting and filling method employed in underground mining.
8. The purpose of the bulk sampling of the coal is:
(a) To study the wash ability
(b) To study the carbon content.
(c) To study the method of formation.
(d) For grading purpose.

9. We can reduce, the energy requirement in comminution by -

(a) using corrugated crushing surfaces
(b) chemical additives
(c) increasing the level of bondage in particles
(d) Nine of the above
10. Coal & Mineral processing is carried out utilizing the physical methods.Match the method at (A) with the
physical properties at (B)
Methods (A) Physical Properties(B)
P-Sorting A-Difference in surface properties
Q-Gravity separation B-Magnetic susceptibility
R-Froth flotation C-Radioactive property
S-Magnetic separation D-Surface properties
Ans: (P)+(C), (Q)+(D ), (R)+(A), (S)+(B)
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 11. In this method the particle size of the ore is progressively reduced until the clean particles of mineral are
separated -
(a) crushing (b) tumbling (c) comminution (d) grinding
12. Comminution mechanism is influenced by -
(a) the surface area of known particles of uniform diameter is inversely proportional to the diameter
(b) the probability of breakage in comminution in high for large particles and rapidly diminishes for fine sizes
(c) that most of the energy input is absorbed by the machine itself and only a fraction is available for breaking
the material
(d) None of the above
13. There are mainly two types of crushers .................................... & ...........................
. Ans. Jaw and Gyratory crusher
14. Secondary crushers are of two types ...................... & ....................
Ans. Cone & Roll
15. The mill which accepts the lowest size of feed is –

(a) Rod mill (b) Ball mill (c) Autogenous mill (d) None

16. The method of separation of two or more minerals of different specific gravity is
(a) Floatation (b) Washing (c) Jigging (d) Heavy Media Separation(HMS)

17. Match Law/Theory in (A) with their Area of adoption in (B)

Law/Theory (A) (B) Area of adoption

P-Rittinger”s (A) Volumes of product’s particle
Q-Kick’s (B) Lengths of crack formation
R-Bond’s (C) Measurements of Surface Areas
Ans . (P) + (C); (Q) + (A), (R) + (B)

18. Mineral/Coal Processing is adopted to ................... valuable mineral content by -

(a) recover (b) extract (c) enrich (d) all as stated
19. From the Ore, the process of Liberation of the valuable minerals is by
(a) concentration (b) sorting
(c) comminution (d) oxidation
20. In this method of separation, optical and radioactive properties are used -
(a) froth floatation (b) sorting
(c) gangue clearance (d) crushing
21. The below mentioned method the method of gravity concentration?
(a) forth floatation (b) jigging
(c) spiral classifier (d) duopactor
22. Which of the following properties are utilized in forth floatation?
(a) Specific gravity
(b) viscosity
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 (c) differences in physico-chemical surface properties
(d) particle temperature
23. Forth floatation technique is based on -
(a) to create difference in temperature
(b) to create difference in density
(c) to render the particles hydrophobic and facilitating bubble attachment
(d) deactivate the mineral to bubble attachment and not to control the pH of the system
24. In this method of concentration by the degree of affinity of the minerals for rising air-bubbles within the
agitated pulp. This is known as
(a) froth flotation (b) sorting
(c) magnetic separation (d) refraction
25. A method of separation dependent on electrical conductivity properties is called
(a) universal separation (b) high tension separation
(c) leaching (d) gravity separation
26. In this method of separation the difference in electrical conductance of the minerals is exploited .
(a) Sorting (b) Gravity separation
(c) Froth flotation (d) Electrostatic separation
27. The angle at which free flow of material takes place is called ‘angle of repose’. Where it is applied –
(a) Angle of the ore bins
(b) Slope of conveyor belts
(c) Design of dumps
(d) All above
28. Reduction ratio is defined as the ratio of maximum particle size in the feed maximum particle size in the
product. This is expressed by –
R = D/d
Explain ‘D’ and ‘d’ stands for –

Ans. D=Feed size, d= Product size

29. Rittinger’s Law states that ‘ the ............ consumed in the size reduction is directly proportional to the ...............
area produced.
Ans.: Energy, Surface Area

30. Kick’s Law is defined as ‘the energy required for comminution is proportional to reduction in volume of the
new particle produced’.
(a) log R/log f (b) log R/log p (c) log to log R/log 2 (d) None
31. Kick’s Law is applicable to crushing operation where feed material is :
(a) above 1 cm in dia. (b) within 0.5 to 0.9
(c) < 0.5 cm in dia (d) None of the above
32. Bond’s Law is applicable in ................
Ans : Rod mill or ball mill grinding
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33. If the Bond’s Work Index for Quartz is 13.57, what is the value for Graphite?
(a) 43.56 (b) 19.58 (c) 23.56 (d) None
34. This expression in Kwhr per short ton, relates to the resistance of the material to crushing and grinding
(a) reduction ratio (b) work index
(c) grindability (d) gangue liberation ability
35. Gyratory crushers are preferred where ....... capacity is required. The crushing chamber must be kept .......... all
the time.
Ans. High, Full

36. The main factor affecting the capacity of this crusher are a) Angle between the crushing chamber and head,
(b) Feed size, (c) Speed of the spindle, (d) Stroke length and (e) Linear material.
Name the type of Crusher
(a) Gyratory (b) Jaw (c) Roll (d) None
37. The reduction ratio of rolls crusher is ............ for light duty rolls whereas is is about .............. for heavy duty
rolls crusher.
Ans. 1 to 2; 3 to 4.

38. The three types of feeding arrangement are (a) Drum feeding, (b) Scoop feeding and (c) Spout feeding. To
which circuit it refers.
(a) Gyratory (b) Ball Mill (c) Jaw crusher (d) None
39. Calculate the amount of water in the ball mill discharge which is 60% solids by weight if dry solids of 40t/h
present in it.
(a) 26.67 t/h (b) 2.667 t/ (c) 0.2667 t/h (d) 266.7 t/h
40. Practice
In an iron ore beneficiation plant 57% by weight concentrate is produced with 65.23 grade and tailing assayed
38.92. Calculate the feed grade and percentage recovery of iron in the concentrate of the plant.
Ans: C = Concentrate = 57% by weight
T = Tailing = 100-57 = 43%
Ff = Cc +Tt
If F – 100, f = recovery of iron
t = tailing assayed = 38.92
Therefore 100 x f = 57x65.23+43x38.92
f = 53.92
Percentage Recovery = Cc/f = 57x65.23/53.92 = 69%
41 Mesh is defined as the ‘number of openings per linear ....... on a screen surface’, and that number is called
mesh number.
(a) mm (b) inch (c) cm (d) None
42. Identify the type of screens –
(a) Grizzly ................... type
(b) Travelling belt screens .................. type.
Ans: (a) Fixed screen (b) Moving screen
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43. The feed size specification for cyclosizer operation is............. sample weighing up to 100 gms. –
(a) 100 to 190 mesh (b) < 100 mesh (c) 200 to 325 mesh (d) None
44. 100 mesh means ………………. openings in a linear inch.

(a) 120 (b) 100 (c) 150 (d) 17

45. Free settling ratio is expressed as the ratio of effective density of the heavy particle to effective density of the
lighter particle in a fluid -----
(a) Water (b) H2SO4 (c)HNO3 (d) H2SO4+Water
46. Two mineral particles, magnetite having specific gravity 5.2 and quartz having specific gravity 2.65 are in the
mixture for classifying. Calculate the free settling ration.
(a) 2.54 (b) 25.40 (c) 0.254 (d) 254.0
47. Two mineral particles, magnetite having specific gravity 5.2 and quartz having specific gravity 2.65 are in the
mixture for classifying in a pulp having density of 1.8. Calculate the free settling ration.
(a) 0.40 (b) 4.0 (c) 0.04 (d) 0.004
48. This term is defined as ‘at that size where particles will get equal chance of going either as over flow or under
flow’ –
(a) d50 (b) d40 (c)d60 (d)d70
49. These are called ............... and the process is called .......... to treat coarse material as a part of gravity
separation.
(a) Jig, Jigging (b) Separator, Separation
(c) Crusher, Crushing (d) Conveyor, Conveying
50. This is a reagent used in flotation process :
(a) Collectors (b) pH regulators (c) Frothers (d) All these

51. Black and Dodge are relate to which type of crusher?

(a) Gyratory (b) Cone (c) Jaw (d) Roll
52. Jaw crushers have -
(a) two plates open and shut like animal jaws
(b) jaws are at an obtuse angle to each other
(c) jaws are fixed type
(d) None of the above
53. The term ‘crusher gap’ relates to this type of crusher -
(a) gyratory crusher (b) cone crusher
(c) jaw crusher (d) ball mill
54. Selection of crusher is done on the basis of particle
(a) shape (b) specific gravity
(c) size (d) percentage of metal in ore
49. Reduction ratio increases with
(a) smaller size of crusher (b) larger size of crusher
(c) size of ore as input (d) size is immaterial

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50. Griffith’s principle is based upon
(a) floatation (b) classification (c) separation (d) comminution
51. Jaw crushers are classified on the basis of -
(a) throw point (b) pitman (c) pivot point (d) input point
52. Set of a Jaw crusher dictates on
(a) discharge size (b) resistance time
(c) flocculation time (d) feed size
53. The material used for the construction of Jaws of crushers -
(a) alloy cast steel (b) ceramics
(c) plastic (d) pvc material
54. The spindle of gyratory crusher rotates normally at the speed of
(a) 10-15 rpm (b) 40-60 rpm (c) 85-150 rpm (d) 300-500 rpm
55. PRACTICE : iven below is the volumetric capacity deriving formula propounded by Taggart. The formula is
expressed for which type of crusher?
T = 0.6 LS
where, T = capacity in tonnes/hr.
L = the length of feed opening in inches
S = width of the discharge opening (set) in inches

56. This crusher is suitable for hard, abrasive material tending to give more cubic product if the feed is laminated
or slabby
(a) ball mill (b) roll crusher (c) gyratory (d) jaw crusher
57. The maximum feed size in secondary crusher is -
(a) 5 cm (b) 15 cm (c) 30 cm (d) > 60 cm
58. The throw of cone crusher is A times that of primary crusher? A is given by
(a) 7 (b) 5 (c) 10 (d) 12
59. The capital cost of roll crusher is the highest of all crushers, due to –
(a) Rolls are driven by V-belts from separate motors
(b) a number of horizontal cylinders revolving towards each other
(c) very large rolls in relation to the size of particles
(d) None of the above
60. In a Roll Crusher, the following equation is to determine the maximum size of rock gripped in relation to roll
dia. and the reduction ratio required,?
(a) μk = [(1 + 1.12v) ÷ (1 + 6v)]μ
(b) Q = BSs . cot[a . k .60n] m3 / hr
θ θ
(c) C Sin 2 = μ C Cos 2
θ
(d) Cos 2 = (R + a) ÷ (R + r)
61. If the speed of rolls is 5 RPM, roll dia. is 1000 mm, roll width 1.2m, specific gravity of feed material is 2.5
kg/m3 and distance between rolls be 0.6 m, what will be the theoretical capacity of a roll crusher?
(a) 1296 kg (b) 1496 kg (c) 1696 kg (d) 1796 kg
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62. This do not influence in the Grinding within a tumbling mill.
(a) size (b) quantity (c) shape (d) type of motion
63. This is an efficient screening system -
(a) dry screening
(b) damp screening
(c) screening of the material having moisture and clay
(d) wet screening
64. Screen performance is dependent on -
(a) feed material type
(b) moisture in the feed
(c) presence of clay materials in the feed
(d) presence of particles closer to the aperture size
65. Hammer mill is -
(a) high speed crusher (b) cone crusher
(c) impact crusher (d) roll crusher
66. Stoke’s law is only derived for
(a) setting time (b) non-spherical particles
(c) non-viscous flow region (d) spherical particles
67. For a known particle and fluid density, fluid viscosity, if the value of terminal velocity is substituted in Stoke’s
equation then we get
(a) Reynolds number (b) sedimentation diameter
(c) aperture ratio (d) decantation number
68. Stokes law holds good for -
(a) for the region of non-viscous flow
(b) for all particles below 40 μm
(c) for all particles above 40 μm
(d) for non-spherical particles
69. Chose the alternative name of Sedimentation diameter -
(a) Stokes equivalent spherical diameter
(b) Andreasen pipette diameter
(c) beaker decantation
(d) electrical resistance method
70. This method has illustrated Sedimentation method -
(a) elutriation method (b) beaker decantation
(c) Andreasen technique (d) electrical resistance method
71. Sedimentation method is based on the principle of -
(a) particle sizing by means of an upward current fluid
(b) change in volume of fluid
(c) measurement of the rate of settling of powder particles uniformly dispersed in a fluid

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 (d) None of the above
72. How quickly and with ease the sedimentation analysis can be conducted -
(a) simple elutriator (b) Warman cyclosizer
(c) Coulter counter (d) Andreasen pipette
73. The elutriation process is carried out till -
(a) the material particles are settled
(b) as long as the material powder is uniformly dispersed in the fluid
(c) until there are no visible signs of further classification or the rate of change in weights of the products is
negligible
(d) until the finer particles are agglomerated in the suspended fluid
74. Which of the following bacterium is used to enhance the rate of bacterial oxidation to liberating the occluded
gold for subsequent removal by cyanide leaching?
(a) flocculation (b) agglomeration
(c) leaching (d) none
9. The percentage of the mineral occurring as free particles in the ore in relation to the total content is known as
(a) degree of freedom (b) degree to bondage
(c) degree to liberation (d) degree to integration
10. The ratio of the weight of the feed to the weight of the concentrates is called
(a) recovery ratio (b) ratio of concentration
(c) enrichment ratio (d) smelting ratio
11. It is the ratio of grade of the concentrate to grade of the feed and related to the efficiency of the process
(a) enrichment ratio (b) recovery ratio
(c) stokes ratio (d) mass balancing ratio
12. The fine product from classification is known as
(a) slack (b) slimes (c) tramp (d) pulp
16. Find out the average retention time of particles in the tank, where slurry is fed at 120 m3 per hour. The volume
of the floatation conditioning tank is 20 m3?
(a) 1 min (b) 6 min (c) 10 min (d) 24 min
17. A pulp stream is diverted to fill up a can and the pulp density is measured to be as 1450 kg/m 3. Calculate the
percentage of solids by weight? Assuming the density of solids as 2100 kg/m3
(a) 49% (b) 69% (c) 75% (d) 59%
26. This model which is the combination of theoretical with empirical aspects is -
(a) computer based model (b) steady state mathematical model
(c) comminution model (d) phenomenological model
27. Flotation cells in the Malanjkhand Copper Mine, assays 0.75% Cu. The concentrate produced assays 30% Cu
and the tailings 0.2%. Calculate the ratio of concentration?
(a) 50 (b) 56 (c) 54 (d) 55
29. At Hutti Gold Mines, the feed of a floatation plant assays 0.7% gold. The concentrate produced assays 30%
gold and the tailings 0.15% gold. Calculate the recovery of gold to the concentrate?
(a) 79 (b) 73 (c) 78 (d) 82

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30. For a wet mineral processing plant treating almost 10,000 ton of ore per day requires water almost
(a) 5 m3/min (b) 10 m3/min (c) 15 m3/min (d) 20 m3/min
33. How will you term the size of an irregular particle using a single quantity?
(a) length (b) equivalent diameter (c) width (d) perimeter
34. How the Stoke’s diameter is measured ?
(a) microscopically (b) sieving
(c) sedimentation and elutriation technique (d) granular
35. How can you measure the projected area diameter?
(a) coning & quartering (b) sieving
(c) acicular (d) microscopically
36. Which of the following is the widely used method for particle size analysis?
(a) sedimentation (b) grinding
(c) elutriation (d) test sieving
37. Which of the following is the standard series of aperture of consecutive sieves and for most purposes are quite
adequate?
(a) 5√2 (b) 3√2 (c) 4√2 (d) √2
38. The sieve range is selected on the basis of -
(a) no more than 15% of sample is retained on the coarsest sieve
(b) no more than 5% of sample is retained on the coarsest sieve
(c) sieve ranges can be chosen randomly
(d) such that centres at the apices of round holes should be at isosceles triangle
39. BS (Bureau of Indian Standard) ..............deals with the general procedure for test sieving -
(a) BS 1967 (b) BS 1896 (c) BS 1796 (d) BS 2001
40. The cumulative percentage of passing through the sieves of the material less than 125 μm in size is
(a) 99.9 (b) 97 (c) 87.5 (d) 36.9
48. Results of sieve analyses performed on material ground in ball mills, are presented by this method -
(a) Rosin-Rammler method (b) Log-Log method
(c) Power model (d) Renner and Cohen method
50. In which of the following methods, cumulative under size data are plotted against sieve aperture?
(a) Renner and Cohen method (b) Taggart
(c) Gates-Gaudin-Schumann (d) Fontein
52. For particle size below 40μm, which operation is adopted?
(a) sub-sieving (b) regulating
(c) drew boy bathing (d) centrifuging
56. Both sedimentation and elutriation techniques separates particles on the basis of
(a) viscosity (b) resistance to motion
(c) fluid density (d) grinding speed
68. In this method current changes in an electrical circuit was used for applications of size analyzer in the range of
0.5-400 μm -
(a) Laser beam particle size analyzer (b) on-line particle size analyzer

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 (c) Coulter counter analyzer (d) Warman cyclosizer
69. Using laser beam based particle size analysis is to measure the size of -
(a) powdered product (b) 8 – 25 μm
(c) 26 – 50 μm (d) None of the above
70. Which of the following analyzer system is not popular despite several advantages owing to high cost -
(a) laser beam particle size analyzer (b) on-line particle size analyzer
(c) coulter counter analyzer (d) microscopic sizing
71. Accuracy of all size analyzing devices depend on -
(a) simplicity of the use of the system
(b) size segregated slurry emerging from the classifying helix
(c) sensitivity of changes in sample density
(d) None of the above
100. Mechanical classifier is a type of
(a) hydrocyclone (b) vertical current classifier
(c) horizontal current classifier (d) multi-spigot hydrosizer
111. What is the unit for flux density ?
(a) Kcal/kg (b) Tesla (c) gm/cc (d) None of the above
112. One Tesla is ............... Gauss & one Gauss is ................ Maxwell/cm2
112. 10,000 Gauss, 1 Maxwell/ cm2

113. This component is not part of roll type electrostatic separator (high tension separator).
(a) Rotor (b) Wiping electrode (c) Infrared light (d) Transformer

106. Indian coal is difficult to wash due to presence of

(a) high ash percentage (b) high near gravity material
(c) high moisture percentage (d) high volatile matter 106. (b)

107. ..................... method determines the fixed carbon, volatile matter, moisture and ash content present in the coal.
Proximate analysis

108. While analysing coal sample the following data is available –

W1 = initial weight of the sample
W2 = final weight of the sample
W3 = weight of residue after burning carbon
M = percentage moisture
L= percentage loss of weight
C = Fixed Carbon
Match the component analysed in (A) with the Result in (B)

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 Analysis for (A) Results(B)

P- % Moisture A - (L-M)
𝑊3
Q- Fixed Carbon B - 𝑊1 x 100
𝑊1−𝑊2
R- Volatile Matter C- 𝑊1
x100
(𝑊1−𝑊2)−𝑊3
S- Ash D– 𝑊1
x 100
Ans : P + C; Q + D; R + A; S+B

109. Beneficiation of Indian bituminous coal helps in –

(a) increasing heat value
(b) decreasing the quantity of rail movement
(c) reduces the ash percentage
(d) All the above
110. This type of fuel is not being washed to improve heat value –
(a) Lignite
(b) Bituminous coal
(c) Anthracite
(d) Coking Coal

B.Tech Mining Engineng

VIth Semester
Coal & Non-Coal Mineral Processing

Section – A
2 x 10 marks = 20
1. Objective Type Questions.

a) Bond’s Law is applicable in Rod Mill & Ball Mill grinding operation ? (True/False)

b) Which is not a fuel mineral : TRUE

i) Coal ii) Lignite iii) Bauxite iv) Uranium iii)

c) The principle of gravity separation is based on ……………… properties.

d) Coal used in power plants in India have very low ash content. (true/False) False

e) Underground coal mining produces better coal from quality view point than surface mines.
(True/False)
TRUE

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f) The above figure represents g) The figure below shows Elements of
…………………………….System. ………………………………… Cell

h) The important types of mechanical classifiers are :

………………………………………………. & ……………………………………. ( Rake Classifiers &

Spiral Classifiers).

i) 100 mesh means ………………. openings in a linear inch. (Ans : 100)

j) In Magnetic Separation we utilize …………….. properties. (Magnetic)

Section – B
Marks : 5 x 8 marks = 40

1. Define – (a) Diamagnetic, b) Paramagnetic, & c)

Ferromagnetic ?
2. Draw the figure shown at (g) under objective type
questions.
3. What is the important function of a frother in froth flotation
?
4. What is Stoke’s Law ? Explain.
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5. What are the factors affecting settling of particles in afluid
medium ?
6. What is the principle of Separation ?
7. What is a tube mill ? What is the difference between ball
mill and tube mill ?
8. What ‘mineral processing’ systems you have seen during
your visit to Hutti Gold Mines in Karnataka ?
9. What is Work Index ? How it helps in comminution ?
10. In ‘coal processing’ we remove Ash and other mineral
matter and gangue from the coal ? What the advantages of coal
processing ?

Section – C
Marks : 10 x 4 marks = 40
1. Calculate the percentage of circulating load in the grinding
circuit, if –
Feed to Ball Mill is 60 t/hr, Ball mill discharge is 60%
solids by weight, Classifier feed is 45%, Classifier
Overflooiw – 45%, and Classifier underflow is 80% solids.
(PAGE 69).
2. (a) What do you understand by Primary Crushing ?
(b) How many types of Primary Crushing are there ?
© What are the various characteristics of Jaw and
Gyratory Crusher ?
(d) Which is more energy efficient & why ?
3. In the following figure the various elements of operation of
a Hydro-cyclone is indicated
.
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Draw the sketch and also explain the function of hydro-cyclone.

4. (a) Why froth flotation is adopted ? (b) What is hydrophobic and

hydrophilic ?
©What is the important function of a collector ?
5. In an iron ore beneficiation plant 60% by weight concentrate is
produced with 5% grade and tailing assayed at 40% . Calculate the feed
grade and percentage of recovery of iron in the CONCENTRATE ?

6. (a) Why mineral or coal processing is adopted in a mining

system ?
(b) What are the advantages associated with the adoption of
mineral processing ?
(c) During mining what steps we need to take to reduce cost
of mineral processing ?

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Fig. 1 : Areas of Mineral Processing
The objectives of mineral beneficiation are
What constitutes mineral beneficiation?
Fig. 2 : Shows how mineralogy influences mineral processing.
Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy (Table 1)
Fig 3 : Unit operations and their relationship
Ores and Minerals
Mineral Classification

Fig. 5: Stages of Mineral Processing

Run-Of-Mine Material and Minerals

Types of ROM
Table 2: A list of some valuable minerals.

WHAT CONSTITUTES MINERAL BENEFICIATION ?

Liberation
Figure 6. Breaking of larger material to smaller pieces result in particles with varying degrees of
liberation. The darker regions represent the valuable mineral
Liberation by detachment
Liberation by Size Reduction
Minerals of unequal abundance

COMMINUTION
Objectives of ComminutionFig. 7 : Stages in Size reduction
Size reduction/Comminution Process
Energy in Comminution
Von Rittinger’s Law(1867)
Kick’s Law (1885)
Fig.8 : Breaking nature
Bond’s Law(1952)
Limitations of Communition Laws

Operating Variables in Comminution

Fig. Double-toggle Jaw Crusher
Liberation and Communition
Concentration technologies: Basics

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CRUSHING THEORIES
Reduction Ratio in Crushing
Mechanism of Crushing

PRIMARY CRUSHING
Crushing Equipment
Primary Crushers – Jaw and Gyratory
Figure 3. Primary and secondary crusher
Construction features of a Jaw Crusher
Energy Requirements of A Jaw Crusher
A Double Toggle Jaw Crusher
Telsmith Jaw Crusher
Dodge Jaw Crusher
Characteristics of Jaw and Gyratory Crusher
Jaw crusher is the better choice because of:
Secondary Crushing
Secondary Crushers
Cone Crusher
Impact Crushers
Roll Crushers
Figure 4. Elements of a rolls and an impact crusher
Cone crushers
Merits of cone crusher over gyratory
Advantages-
ROLL CRUSHER
Roll Crushers ( 1806 ) .
Roll Crushers
Roll Crusher Angle of Nip
Roll Crushers- Method of Feeding
Comparison between roll & cone crushers
Calculate the capacity of a Rolls Crusher :
GRINDING
Types of Grinding
Factors governing the required Energy are
Batch Grinding
Continuous Grinding
Differential Grinding
Dry And Wet Grinding
Primary And Secondary Grinding
Tumbling Mills
Tumbling Mill Liners
Tumbling Mill Capacity

Tumbling Mill - Grinding Media

BALL MILL
Theory of Ball Milling (Zones in A Ball Mill)
Path of a typical ball Forces acting
Theory of Ball Milling
CYLINDRICAL MILL
Cylindrical Mill
ROD MILL
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Factors Affecting Operation of A Grinding Mill-
CALCULATION OF MILL SIZE MATCHING TO REQUIRED POWER
OPTIMUM SIZE OF GRINDING MEDIA. Major opposing factors-
Recent Trends in Crushing And Grinding
High Pressure Grinding Rolls (Hpgr)

SIZING
Why SCREENING ?
SIZING
Factors Affecting The Screening Efficiency. Screening Efficiency-
THE SCREEN.
TYPES OF SCREENS
TYPES OF SIEVES
TYPES OF SCREENS.
SUB SIEVE SIZING

PROCESS OF ELUTRIATION
STOKE’S LAW
INFRASIZING

MICROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS

Grizzly
Figure 7. A grizzly
Revolving Screen (Trommel)
Figure 8. Revolving screen used in trammels
Moving Screens (reciprocating, oscillating, vibratory and gyratory screens)
Figure 9. Examples of moving screens

CONCENTRATION
Gravity and Dense Medium Separation
The Concentration Criteria (CC)
Recent Developments in Fine Gravity Concentration
Sluices, Reichert Cones and Spirals
Pinched sluices
Figure 14. a) Left – Pinched sluice cross section and plan view b) Right – Sluice box
The Reichert Cone concentrator
Spiral concentrators
Figure 16. Spiral Concentrator a cross section of the helical conduit and flow pattern is shown on the right
Shaking Tables

Jigs
Jigging
Fig. 17, Showing Jig cycle
Figure 18. Elements and operation of a shaking table
Figure 19. Elements and operation of a jig
Types of jigs

Centrifugal Gravity Concentrators

Figure 19:Falcon Concentrator

Magnetic Separation
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Figure 20. Elements of a wet low-intensity magnetic separator

CLASSIFICATION
Sedimentation and Hydraulic Classifiers
Figure 10. Elements of a sedimentation (left) and hydraulic classifier (right)
Spiral and Rake Classifiers
Figure 11. Elements of spiral and rake classifiers
Hydro-cyclones (Cyclones)
Figure 12. Hydrocylone pictures and elements of operation
Separation and Concentration Techniques
Separation Methods
Sorting
Figure 13. Elements of optical sorting system

FROTH FLOTATION
Flotation Reagents
Figure 21. Elements of a conventional flotation cell

Processing Approach and Method

Figure 1. Typical processing flow sheet for metalliferous ores

Coal Processing
Coal And Its Utilization
Coal preparation
What are the Typical steps in coal preparation :
Washing or cleaning of coal
Coal Cleaning
ADVANTAGES OF COAL
PROXIMATE ANALYSIS
Determination of Moisture Content:
Determination of Volatile Matter in Coal
Determination of Ash in Coal
Determination of Fixed Carbon

WASHABILITY STUDIES
Float and Sink Test
Fig. 2: Float and Sink Test
Washability Curve
Washability Test
Washability characteristics of coal is applied
Figure 1. Characteristic curve of Float and Sink test.
Figure 2. Baum Jig

SLURRY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

Slurry pumps solutions
APPLICATION
ADVANTAGES
Application of slurry/pipeline transportation
Types of technology
Slurry pipelining
Figure 1. Coal transportation costs.
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Capsule pipelining

SAMPLING
OBJECTIVE OF SAMPLING
Why sampling ?
Sampling for feasibility studies
Core Drill Samples
Coning and Quartering

184
185
Dewatering
Dewatering is required to keep the water in the process (otherwise fresh
water is taken from the environment).
•Many processes work within a certain moisture range (or their
capacity is determined by flow). Therefore water needs to be removed
from a process stream.
Dewatering methods can be broadly classified into three groups:
•sedimentation (gravity and centrifugal),
•filtration, and
•thermal drying -Thermal drying is two orders of magnitude more
energy intensive than mechanical dewatering.
Mechanical dewatering is two orders of magnitude more energy
intensive than sedimentation
•The bulk of the water is first removed by thickening,
•Thickening produces a thickened pulp of perhaps 55-65% solids by
weight.
•Up to 80% of the water can be removed at this stage.
•Filtration of the thickened pulp then produces a moist filter cake of
between 80% and 90% solids
•This may require thermal drying

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 (Sedimentation) - Thickening
•Sedimentation is the settling of solid particles in a fluid medium (often
water)
•End up with clarified liquid at the top
•supernatant Solid particles in a bed at the bottom
Need to dewater both tailings and concentrates
•Sedimentation produces a pulp of 55-65 % solids by mass
•This removes up to 80 % of the water
•Filtration then gives 80 –90 % solids
Sedimentation is most efficient when there is a large density difference
between liquid and solid
•Sedimentation can not be (always) applied in hydrometallurgical
processes, because the carrier liquid may be a high grade leach liquor
having a density approaching that of the solids.
•In such cases, filtration may be necessary.
The settling rates of particles in a fluid are governed by Stokes’ or
Newton’s laws
•Factors that affect sedimentation include:
•particle size and shape
;•weight and volume content of solids
;•fluid viscosity;
•specific gravity of solids and liquid.

187
 Selection of screening equipment

The various factors that affect the selection of screens include the
following:

Material specification for screened component.

Location where screening is to be applied and characteristics of waste

material to be screened, including particle size, shape, bulk, density
and moisture content. Separation and overall efficiency.

Characteristics screen design, including materials of construction, size

of screen openings, total surface screening area, oscillating rate for
vibrating screens, speed for rotary drum screens, loading rates and
length.

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Operational characteristics, including energy requirements,
maintenance requirements, simplicity of operation, reliability, noise
output and air and water pollution control requirements.

Site considerations such as space and height access, noise and related
environmental limitations.

The efficiency of screen can be evaluated in terms of the percentage

recovery of the material in the feed stream by using Equation 5.3:

189
Solve

Given that 100 tonne/h of solid waste is applied to a rotary screen for
the removal of glass prior to shredding, determine the recovery
190
efficiency and effectiveness of the screen, based on the following
experimental data:
The percentage of glass in solid waste = 8 %
Total weight of material in under flow = 10 tonne/h
Weight of glass in screen underflow = 7.2 tonne/h

Other separation techniques

Besides the mechanical techniques we studied earlier for

segregating wastes, there are others. A description of some of
these other separation techniques is given below:

(i) Hand-sorting or previewing: Previewing of the waste

stream and manual removal of large sized materials is
necessary, prior to most types of separation or size reduction
techniques. This is done to prevent damage or stoppage of
equipment such as shredders or screens, due to items such as
rugs, pillows, mattresses, large metallic or plastic objects, wood
or other construction materials, paint cans, etc.

(ii) Inertial separation: Inertial methods rely on ballistic or

gravity separation principles to separate shredded solid wastes
into light (i.e., organic) and heavy (i.e., inorganic) particles.
Figures 5.9 and 5.10 illustrate the modes of operation of two
different types of inertial separators:

191
Given that 100 tonne/h of solid waste is applied to a rotary
screen for the removal of glass prior to shredding, determine
the recovery efficiency and effectiveness of the screen, based
on the following experimental data:

Figure 5.9 Ballistic Inertial Separator

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(iii) Flotation:

193
In the flotation process, glass-rich feedstock, which is produced by
screening the heavy fraction of the air-classified wastes after ferrous
metal separation, is immersed in water in a soluble tank. Glass chips,
rocks, bricks, bones and dense plastic materials that sink to the
bottom are removed with belt scrappers for further processing.

Light organic and other materials that float are skimmed from the
surface. These materials are taken to landfill sites or to incinerators
for energy recovery. Chemical adhesives (flocculants) are also used to
improve the capture of light organic and fine inorganic materials.

(iv) Optical sorting:

Optical sorting is used mostly to separate glass from the waste stream,
and this can be accomplished by identification of the transparent
properties of glass to sort it from opaque materials (e.g., stones,
ceramics, bottle caps, corks, etc.) in the waste stream. Optical sorting
involves a compressed air blast that removes or separates the glasses
– plain or coloured. An optical sorting machinery is, however, complex
and expensive. Consider Figure 5.11 shows a simplified scheme of
electronic sorter for glass:

Figure 5.11 Simplified Scheme of Electronic Sorter

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