Ore characteristics that affect breakage during grinding / W. Petruk and M.M. Smith.: M38-13/88-5E-PDF

"A base metal ore from the New Brunswick No. 12 deposit in the Bathurst area, New Brunswick, was studied to determine the mechanics of ore breakage during grinding. The ore was ground for different periods of time in a laboratory ball mill, and both the unbroken ore and ground products were analyzed by a variety of image analysis techniques, including modifications of fractal analyses. The results show that the mode of breakage is strongly influenced by the behaviour of pyrite. Initial grinding breaks pyrite along grain boundaries (i.e., preferential breakage), and the process continues until most of the poorly to moderately bonded pyrite grains have been separated. Further grinding breaks pyrite across grain boundaries (random breakage) and chips edges off particles. This observation indicates that liberation of interstitial minerals among pyrite in base metal ores is more dependent upon preferential breakage, along pyrite grain boundaries, than upon random breakage of the ore, as generally assumed. Consequently, the interstitial minerals among pyrite, which are generally smaller than the pyrite grains, will be liberated at a coarser grind than would be expected if the ore broke randomly"--Abstract, p. i.

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