Mineral Processing Course

Lesson 1 • Ores, Minerals, and Gangue

Defines ore, mineral, gangue, and grade concepts essential for all downstream decisions. Establishes vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Health, Safety, and Environmental Basics

Covers hazard identification, dust and chemical exposure controls, and environmental obligations in processing plants. Establishes a safety-first mindset before hands-on topics begin.

Lesson 3 • Ore Mineralogy and Texture

Examines how mineral texture, grain size, and associations control liberation and separation efficiency. Directly informs comminution and separation circuit design.

Lesson 4 • Key Performance Indicators in Processing

Introduces recovery, grade, and throughput as the primary metrics for evaluating plant performance. Provides the analytical lens applied in every subsequent chapter.

Lesson 1 • Comminution Theory and Energy Laws

Presents Bond, Kick, and Rittinger energy laws and their practical application to crusher and mill sizing. Provides the theoretical basis for all comminution equipment selection.

Lesson 2 • Cone and Impact Crushers

Details secondary and tertiary crushing using cone and impact crushers, including product shape and size control. Connects crusher selection to downstream grinding feed requirements.

Lesson 3 • Screening and Closed-Circuit Crushing

Covers vibrating screen types, efficiency calculations, and the design of closed crushing circuits. Demonstrates how recirculating loads control product size and throughput.

Lesson 4 • Jaw and Gyratory Crushers

Explains the operating principles, mechanical components, and size-reduction mechanisms of jaw and gyratory crushers. Covers primary crushing applications and equipment selection criteria.

Lesson 1 • Grinding Media and Liner Selection

Examines media size, material, and charge level effects on grinding efficiency and wear rates. Connects media selection to ore hardness and target product size.

Lesson 2 • Tumbling Mill Fundamentals

Describes the mechanics of ball, rod, and autogenous mills, including charge motion and breakage mechanisms. Establishes the physical principles underlying all grinding circuit design.

Lesson 3 • Classification in Grinding Circuits

Covers hydrocyclone and mechanical classifier operation, efficiency curves, and cut-size control. Shows how classification closes the grinding circuit and controls product fineness.

Lesson 4 • Grinding Circuit Optimization

Applies Bond work index, population balance models, and survey data to improve mill throughput and energy use. Bridges theoretical sizing with practical plant optimization.

Lesson 1 • Gravity Circuit Design and Auditing

Applies mass balance, recovery calculations, and circuit auditing methods to gravity separation flowsheets. Prepares students to evaluate and improve existing gravity circuits.

Lesson 2 • Jigs and Shaking Tables

Covers the operating principles, feed requirements, and product streams of jigs and shaking tables for coarse and fine ore. Connects equipment selection to ore density contrast and particle size.

Lesson 3 • Spirals and Centrifugal Concentrators

Examines spiral concentrator geometry, wash water effects, and centrifugal concentrator operation for fine heavy minerals. Demonstrates their role in recovering fine gold, chromite, and ilmenite.

Lesson 4 • Dense-Medium Separation

Details dense-medium vessels and cyclones using magnetite or ferrosilicon suspensions for precise density-based separation. Covers medium preparation, recovery, and regeneration circuits.

Lesson 1 • Flotation Kinetics and Rate Models

Introduces first-order flotation rate constants, rate distributions, and their use in predicting recovery versus time. Provides the quantitative tools for circuit sizing and optimization.

Lesson 2 • Flotation Cell Hydrodynamics

Describes air dispersion, bubble size distribution, and mixing regimes inside mechanical and column flotation cells. Links hydrodynamic parameters to collection and froth zone performance.

Lesson 3 • Collectors, Frothers, and Modifiers

Examines the function, chemistry, and dosage of collectors, frothers, activators, depressants, and pH modifiers. Provides the reagent knowledge needed to design and troubleshoot flotation circuits.

Lesson 4 • Flotation Circuit Configurations

Compares rougher, scavenger, and cleaner circuit arrangements and their effect on grade and recovery. Guides circuit design decisions based on ore mineralogy and product specifications.

Lesson 1 • Selective Flotation of Sulfide Minerals

Covers differential flotation of copper, lead, zinc, and iron sulfides using selective collectors and depressants. Builds on reagent fundamentals to address complex polymetallic ores.

Lesson 2 • Flotation of Oxide and Non-Sulfide Minerals

Examines flotation of oxide copper, phosphate, iron ore, and industrial minerals using anionic and cationic collectors. Addresses the unique surface chemistry challenges of non-sulfide systems.

Lesson 3 • Fine and Coarse Particle Flotation

Addresses recovery challenges at fine and coarse size extremes using specialized equipment and reagent strategies. Extends standard flotation knowledge to difficult particle size ranges.

Lesson 4 • Process Water and Reagent Interactions

Analyzes the impact of recycled process water chemistry, dissolved ions, and reagent degradation on flotation performance. Prepares students to manage water quality in closed-loop circuits.

Lesson 1 • Electrostatic Separation

Describes corona and electrostatic plate separators used to separate conducting from non-conducting minerals in dry feeds. Addresses feed preparation, humidity control, and product quality.

Lesson 2 • Heap and Vat Leaching Fundamentals

Introduces acid and cyanide leaching chemistry, solution flow, and metal extraction kinetics for oxide and gold ores. Connects leaching to the broader hydrometallurgical processing route.

Lesson 3 • Magnetic Separation Principles

Explains magnetic susceptibility, field intensity, and the behavior of paramagnetic and ferromagnetic minerals in magnetic fields. Provides the physical basis for all magnetic separator selection.

Lesson 4 • Magnetic Separator Equipment

Covers low-intensity, high-intensity, and high-gradient magnetic separators and their industrial applications. Connects equipment type to ore mineralogy and required separation sharpness.

Lesson 1 • Tailings Storage and Disposal Methods

Compares conventional tailings dams, dry-stack, and paste tailings disposal methods for safety and environmental performance. Guides selection of tailings management strategy based on site conditions.

Lesson 2 • Water Recovery and Recycling

Addresses water balance, process water recycling, and treatment methods to minimize fresh water consumption and effluent discharge. Integrates water management across the full processing flowsheet.

Lesson 3 • Plant-Wide Mass Balance and Auditing

Applies plant-wide mass balancing, data reconciliation, and key performance indicator tracking to evaluate and improve overall plant performance. Synthesizes all prior course content into an integrated plant audit.

Lesson 4 • Filtration Technologies

Examines vacuum and pressure filtration equipment, filter media selection, and cake moisture targets for concentrates and tailings. Addresses operational factors affecting filtration rate and cake quality.