Mineral processing involves several live working equipment and machinery designed to extract, crush, grind, separate, and concentrate valuable minerals from ore. Here’s a list of key equipment used in active mineral processing plants:
1. Crushing Equipment
– Primary Crushers:
– Jaw crushers
– Gyratory crushers
– Secondary & Tertiary Crushers:
– Cone crushers
– Impact crushers (HSI/VSI)
– Roll crushers
2. Grinding Equipment
– Ball Mills (wet/dry grinding)
– SAG Mills (Semi-Autogenous Grinding)
– Rod Mills (coarse grinding)
– Vertimills (energy-efficient fine grinding)
3. Screening & Classification Equipment
– Vibrating Screens (for size separation)
– Trommel Screens (for wet/dry screening)
– Hydrocyclones (for particle size classification)
– Spiral Classifiers
4. Separation & Concentration Equipment
# (a) Gravity Separation:
– Jig separators
– Shaking tables
– Spiral concentrators
– Falcon/ Knelson concentrators (centrifugal separation)
# (b) Magnetic Separation:
– Low-intensity magnetic separators (LIMS – for ferrous metals)
– High-intensity magnetic separators (HIMS – for paramagnetic minerals)
# (c) Froth Flotation:
– Mechanical flotation cells (agitated tanks with air injection)
– Column flotation cells (for fine particles)
# (d) Electrostatic Separation: (for conductive minerals like rutile, zircon, etc.)
5. Dewatering & Tailings Management Equipment
– Thickeners/clarifiers (for slurry concentration)
– Filter presses (pressure filtration for dry tailings disposal)
– Vacuum drum filters / Disc filters
6. Conveying & Handling Equipment
– Belt conveyors (for bulk material transport)
– Slurry pumps (for moving liquid-solid mixtures)
7. Automation & Control Systems
Modern plants use:
– SCADA systems for real-time monitoring
– AI-based ore sorting technologies
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