COMMINUTION AND LIBERATION OF MINERALS

Two industrial problems, energy consumption and mineral recovery, have dominated research in comminution during the past five years. Both have required new and fundamental insights into the fracture process, when brittle particles are subject to rapid impact. New experimental procedures using the ultrafast load cell, dual pendulum and high-precision image analysers have produced experimental data that is providing the basis for significantly new models of the facture process. New generation comminution machines are exploiting the deeper understanding and theoretical models of wide applicability are emerging to provide a sound basis for design, scale-up and optimization of comminution operations.