Mineral Processing

Turning ore into saleable concentrate. How ore becomes concentrate: comminution (crushing and grinding with Bond's law), screening and classification, gravity separation, froth flotation with grade–recovery balances and kinetics, and dewatering and tailings management.

• Crushing & Grinding — Comminution reduces ore size to liberate valuable minerals. Learn crushers (jaw, gyratory, cone, HPGR), mills (SAG, ball, rod), reduction ratio, F80/P80, Bond's law and work index, mill power, circuit configurations (SABC, HPGR–ball) and energy efficiency.
• Screening & Classification — Separating particles by size. Learn screens (vibrating, grizzly, banana), screen efficiency, hydrocyclones and the cut size d₅₀, Stokes' law settling, equal-settling particles, partition curves, and circulating load in closed grinding circuits.
• Gravity Separation — Gravity methods separate minerals by density — cheap, chemical-free and ideal for gold, tin, tungsten, coal, iron ore and mineral sands. Learn the concentration criterion, jigs, spirals, shaking tables, centrifugal concentrators and dense medium separation.
• Froth Flotation — Flotation is the most important concentration method for sulphide ores. Learn surface chemistry (collectors, frothers, modifiers), flotation cells and circuits (rougher, scavenger, cleaner), the two-product formula for recovery, mass pull and enrichment, grade–recovery curves and first-order flotation kinetics.
• Dewatering & Tailings — After concentration, water must be removed from concentrate and tailings. Learn pulp density calculations, thickeners and their sizing, filters, water recovery, tailings storage facilities, and alternatives such as thickened, paste and filtered (dry-stack) tailings.