Contents

1.0 Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... 2

2.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 2
3.0 Definition of Terms........................................................................................................................... 2
4.0 Background of Study ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.0 Personal Experience .......................................................................................................................... 4
6.0 Observation and Findings ................................................................................................................. 6
7.0 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 6
8.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 6

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1.0 Executive summary

This report highlights the events that took place during the month of April as well as the
activities done by the trainee in that particular month.

The trainee spent the month of April in the Milling section in the Metallurgy department so as
to learn and appreciate all the processes done in the Milling department as well as to
understand the reason behind these processes.

2.0 Introduction

The Milling section at Bulawayo Mining Company is the last stage of communition at How
Mine. This section is comprised of four conveyor belts numbered conveyor 1-4, three knelson
concentrators, four ball mills, water pumps, VD9 poly screens, a delkor screen and four
hydrocyclones.

The conveyor belts are the transport media for the ore from the fine ore bins to the primary
mill. The mills are responsible for grinding the ore to smaller particles of 75 mircometers.
The Concentrators concentrate the mill discharge. The hydrocyclones classify the pulp
according to the size of the particles. The VD9 screens the mill discharge before it enter the
Knelson Concetrator 48 (KC48). The Delkor screen screens the pulp before it is pumoed to
the Carbo in Pulp section (CIP section).

3.0 Definition of Terms

Aperture- An opening on a screen which restricts larger particles from passing through
Fines- Very small particles in the material.
Communition-Particle size reduction.
Grinding/Milling Particle size reduction is achieved by a combination of abrasion and
impact.

Oversize-Particles larger than the apertures of the screen and cannot go through them.
Undersize-Particles smaller than the aperture size of the screen and can go through them.
Residence time-Time spent by the ore in the mill before being discharged.
Screening- Mechanical separation of particles on the basis of size.

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4.0 Background of study

The last mechanical stage in the process of comminution is milling or grinding. Particle size
reduction is achieved by a combination of abrasion and impact. Grinding is performed in
rotating cylindrical vessels known as ball mills. The mills contain loose grinding media
which are large, hard and heavy relative to the ore particles but small in relation to the mill
volume. When the mill is rotated the mixture of the medium, ore and water (mill charge) is
intimately mixed. The medium comminuting the particles by any of the three mechanisms ie
impact/chipping, compression, and abrasion. This process is usually performed wet although
dry process is possible.

The speed of the mill is very critical to the milling section as it is detrimental wear rate of the
mill liners as well as the type of discharge released by the mill. At relatively low speeds the
medium tends to halt down to the toe of the mill and abrasive comminution occurs. The
media is said to be cascading leading to finer grinding and increased liner wear. At higher
speeds the media is projected clear off the charge parabolically before landing on the toe of
the shell. The media cataracts leading to comminution by impact and a coarser end product
with reduced liner wear. The optimum mill speed should produce comminution by both
cascading and cataracting motion. Cascading is when the feed in the mill is tumbling on the
bottom of the mill together with the grinding media. Cataracting is when the feed is raised to
the top of the mill by the mill speed and the dropped to the bottom together with the grinding
media of the mill.

The Knelson concentrator subjects particles to centrifugal forces. This enables the recovery
of very fine particles. The enhanced gravitational force together with fluidisation process
enable the concentrator to achieve good separation. Water is introduced into the rotating
concentrator cone through a series of fluidisation holes. Feed slurry is the introduced through
a stationery tube. The slurry gets to the bottom of the cone and is forced outwards and up the
wall by centrifugal forces. The slurry fills each ring to capacity to create a concentrate bed.
As water is injected into the ring, the flow is controlled to achieve optimum fluidization.

High specific gravity particles are retained in the concentrator cone. Light particles move out
of the bowl as overflow.

NB: The Knleson concentrators have numbers at the end of the names which represent the
diameter of the concentrators in inches.

The classifiers separates the particles in the pulp by a method known as classification.
Classification is the separation of mixtures of mineral particles into two or more products by
exploiting the difference in the velocity with which the grains flow through the fluid medium.
Particles of various sizes, shapes and specific gravities are separated by being allowed to
settle in a fluid. In mineral processing the fluid medium is usually water. This process is
usually applied to particles which are too fine for efficiency separation by screening.

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The Accacica plant is used for electro winning the gold from the concentrates of the knelson
concentrators through the use of wire wool, water, electricity and several chemicals such as
cyanide.

The type of grinding circuit at How Mine is a closed circuit. An example of a closed circuit is
shown below.

Overflow (fine product)

Feed Grinding Mill discharge

Classification

Underflow (coarse)

The advantage of a closed circuit is that it reduces residence time of particles in each pass
thereby increasing through put. It also prevents overgrinding, increasing energy available for
useful grinding.

The purpose of milling is to reduce the ore to 80 percent passing 75 microns so as to increase
the recovery of the gold in leaching.

5.0 Personal Experience

Before the start of the shift, the trainee took part in the pre-task assessment. This is the
process whereby the workers identify the tasks they doing on that particular shift and identify
all the hazards, risks and aspects and come up with safety measures to counter those risks and
hazards.

The trainee took part in the milling section as an attendant in each of the mills so as to get an
appreciation of how each machine works, its role in the crushing section and the problems
than each attendant has to deal. The roles of the attendant are as follows:

Monitor the operation of the mills.

Ensuring the primary mill is not being overfed or underfed and the regrind mills are
being equally feed.
Housekeeping by lashing any spillages and using water to wash away spillages.
Monitoring the mills by listening for strange noises.

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 Taking spot grinds to determine the grind at that particular time. (These grinds help
the attendants to determine the grind at that particular time and make any necessary
measures to improve it.
Adding lime to the milling circuit.
Adding steel balls to the 4 mills.

The trainee also took part in a few activities such as determining the dry grind efficiency of
the milling section. The dry grind is the average grind efficiency of the milling section the
day before. This grind helps the attendant, gang leaders and the plant operators to have an
overview of the plant performances and adjust any parameters in an attempt to improve the
milling circuits overall performance. An example of the experiment is shown below.

ACTIVITY
Aim-to determine the grind of the milling section during yesterdays three shifts.
Apparatus-drying ovens, collecting pans, 75um sieve, electronic mass balance, spatula and
receiving pan.
Procedure-
1. Carefully remove the samples from the ovens.
2. Crush the samples separately.
3. The samples for determining the grind are labelled Delokor M/S, Delkor A/S and
Delkor N/S translating to morning afternoon and night shift respectively.
4. Weigh 109.8g for each sample and the place each of the masses in its receiving pan.
5. Using the 75um sieve, screen each of the sample by pouring the sample over the
screen then sprayin water over the screen. This is known as wet screening.
6. After screening return the samples and leave to dry.
7. Weigh the samples and use the masses to calculate the percent grind as shown.

Results and calculations

Percent grind = 109.8-mass retained * 100

109.8

= % grind

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 Shift Mass retained (g) Mass passing (g) Percent passing (%)
Delkor M/S 35.84 73.96 68.12
Delkor A/S 32.36 77.44 70.53
Delkor N/S 34.60 75.20 68.49

Conclusion
The ideal grind of the milling section is 75-80% passing 75um.
The grind is affected by the ball load (amount of steel balls in the mill), residence time and
the feed rate.

6.0 Observations and findings

The trainee noticed that over the past month the grind of the milling sections has
failed to reach the required ideal grind. This affects the recovery in the leaching
section.
The ball load has a heavy effect on the grind efficiency.
Feed rate affects the residence time of the mill which in turn affects the grind of the
milling section.

7.0 Recommendations.
Regulate feed rate to avoid overfeeding and under feeding of the millsso as to
improve grind efficiency.
Steel ball addition should be done on a daily basis.

8.0 Conclusions
The trainee managed to understand relatively how the milling sections works, the importance
of the grind and the measures taken to help improve the grind. The trainee also managed to
appreciate the milling section and develop a deep understanding of the machinery, methods
and problems encountered in that section.

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Compiled by: Ziwewe Tapiwa Darrel.

Approved by

Mr B. Makhurane (Senior Metallurgist) ...

Mr O. Gwede (Head of Metallurgy Department)

Mr E. Damiso (Senior Training Officer).

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