Mineral liberation by high voltage pulses and conventional comminution with same specific energy levels

The >95% liberated minerals deportment from three ore samples comminuted mechanically (ME) and electrically (SF), with the error bars indicating the 95% CI. [Display omitted] ► Coarser product with minimal amount of fines. ► Better liberated minerals of interest. ► The liberated minerals appearing in coarser size fractions. ► Less energy required for similar degree of liberation. Comparative comminution between high voltage pulses and conventional grinding, at the same specific energy levels, shows that the electrical comminution generates a coarser product with significantly less fines than the mechanical breakage. However, minerals of interest in the electrical comminution product are better liberated than in the conventional comminution with an over 95% statistical significance. There is a potential to use less energy in the electrical comminution to generate the similar degree of mineral liberation as in the mechanical comminution. Distribution of the liberated minerals demonstrates that, in the electrical comminution product, a large percentage of the liberated minerals appear in size fractions coarser than 53μm; while in the mechanical comminution product, the liberated minerals are accumulated in fine and very fine size fractions. Therefore there may be potential benefits in recovering the coarse liberated minerals in the electrical comminution product, prior to further grinding.