All About Particles: Modelling Ore Behaviour in Mineral Processing

Abstract

Mineral processing encompasses the series of operations used to first liberate the valuable minerals in an ore by comminution, and then separate the resulting particles by means of their geometric, compositional, and physical properties. From a geometallurgical perspective, it is fundamental to understand how ore textures influence the generation of ore particles and their properties. This contribution outlines the processes used to generate and concentrate ore particles, and how these are commonly modelled. A case study illustrates the main ideas. Finally, a brief outlook on the most important research challenges remaining in this branch of geometallurgy is presented.