Mill pond reflections: there's more to the grinding process than titan tumbling mills and steel media, writes

摘要

The large proportion of late C20 and current mineral industry investment going to low grade gold and copper ore exploitation has quite reasonably focused attention on the economics and technology of very large tumbling mills for grinding. But other techniques with substantial established areas of application have also attracted the attention of processing engineers looking to reduce milling costs. One example is roller grinding technology, which remains significant for coal treatment, industrial minerals preparation, iron ore processing and cement manufacture but may well find further application in metal ore comminution. Similarly there is a large market for smaller tumbling mills used with high performance media and linings, for instance in minerals processing where contamination by steel fragmentation must be avoided. A number of experts in the grinding equipment business believe that both technologies deserve a closer look.