Mining and Minerals

Instruments provided by Bettersize are widely used in the research, manufacturing and application of all kinds of mining and minerals, bringing favorable profits.

The Bettersize's particle size and shape analyzer and powder characteristics tester can provide complete physical property analysis and granulometry analysis for the deep processing of mining and minerals, and offer data, including particle size distribution, particle shape, flowability, tap density, and bulk density, helping you to reduce the cost of mineral processing and control the correct particle grades of products.

Abrasives, fluorspar, gallium, mica, soda ash, antimony, garnet, molybdenum, arsenic, nickel, strontium, asbestos, germanium, niobium, sulfur, barite, gold, talc, bauxite, graphite, tantalum, beryllium, gypsum, perlite, tellurium, bismuth, hafnium, phosphate rock, thallium, boron, platinum, thorium, bromine, indium, potash, tin, cadmium, iodine, pumice, titanium, cement, iron and steel, quartz crystal, tungsten, cesium, iron ore, rare earths, vanadium, chromium, iron oxide pigments, rhenium, vermiculite, clays, kyanite, rubidium, wollastonite, cobalt, lead, yttrium, copper, lime, sand, zeolites, diamond, lithium, scandium, zinc, diatomite, magnesium, selenium, zirconium, feldspar, manganese, and silicon are all materials that are mined and then extracted from the ore. If it is mined, particle size distribution measurement in the extraction of useful minerals is an arduous and technically demanding. The ore is blasted or cut, and then loaded and hauled to the mill for the secondary crushing and grinding, which prepares the material for its intended use.

Comminution
In many cases, the valuable minerals are mixed with gangue, and the ore must be separated. The first step of many separation processes is comminution (size reduction), followed by classification (separation by particle size) either for further grinding or the next step, concentration of the ore. During comminution, ore must be ground such that the particles are small enough that each particle consists of primarily one mineral. These particles are then separated to concentrate the mineral product.

Gravity Separation
Gravity separation relies on differences in material mass to separate minerals. Methods include jigs, sluices, spirals, shaking tables, fine particle separators, and hydrosizers and cyclones. Gravity separation is separation based on weight only and is directly affected by particle size since volume is proportional to weight.

Jigging uses pulsed water flow or a similar process to push up ground material. Heavier and larger particles will sink more quickly between pulses and thus tend to the bottom of the jig. Thus, uniform particle size is important to ensure separation by density instead of size. In addition, jig operation (length of water pulses) and design will depend on the size of particles being separated. Sluices and spirals rely on the difference between viscous drag and buoyancy for particle separation. This difference is directly related to particle size. Gravity tables use a vibrating platform to separate by particle size and specific gravity. Thus, narrow size distribution feeds result in better separation.

Froth Flotation
Here the material is separated by surface chemistry. Bubbles flowing through a slurry or suspension will tend to stick to particles with a hydrophobic surface and cause the particles to float to the top of a froth for recovery. Often, particle surfaces are selectively modified so that mineral surfaces are hydrophobic while gangue surfaces are hydrophilic. Particle size is important to the process efficiency. Overly fine particles may be entrained in the bubble flow regardless of surface chemistry, reducing the effectiveness of separation efficiency. Overly large particles will tend to sink regardless of bubble attachment.

Electrostatic and Magnetic Separation
The behavior of a particle under electrostatic or magnetic fields can be exploited to separate particles by type. These fields will induce charges (or magnetism). The resulting forces will cause particles to move depending on particle mass. Thus, small particles are moved further than large particles. Furthermore, particle charge is a surface phenomenon, and the larger surface area of fine particles will tend to have a higher charge. These size effects can lead to separation by size rather than composition. As such, a narrow size distribution often, but not always leads to better separation.

Shipping Product
The final product is often graded and sold as-is or for further processing. Users will want a particular particle size range in order to ensure that their process is optimized. Thus, in the all-important step of selling products, many mines will control particle size and in some cases, particle shape is important as well.

The particle sizing systems below are fully capable of measuring size and shape to assist the user to obtaining the optimal size throughout the manufacturing process.