International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348

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International Journal of Mining Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmst

Pre-treatment of rocks prior to comminution – A critical review of

present practices
Somani Aditya a,⇑, Nandi Tapas K. b, Pal Samir K. a, Majumder Arun K. a
a
Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India
b
Cryogenic Engineering Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: It has been an established fact that comminution processes, crushing and grinding, are most energy
Received 24 October 2015 intensive processes which account for more than half of the total energy consumed in mineral industries.
Received in revised form 20 March 2016 Various alternative pre-treatment methods have been tried by experts around the globe. Although these
Accepted 10 July 2016
methods yielded positive results in terms of reduction in energy consumption in crushing and particu-
Available online 21 February 2017
larly, in grinding operations at laboratory scale, their industrial application still remains an unresolved
issue and challenge. Present review paper describes each one of these methods along with outcome of
Keywords:
earlier studies and issues that need to be addressed through further rigorous experimental investigation.
Comminution
Rock breakage
It also suggests the direction in which future studies can be carried out to meet the primary objective of
Microwave making comminution processes more energy efficient than today they are.
Thermal shock Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction disparity in two ways. First, as amount of fines increases, surface

Comminution essentially involves two processes-crushing and
grinding. This terminology is also applicable to blasting and dril-
ling [1]. Crushing and grinding marginally differ from the fact that
crushing liberates particles in coarser size ranges whereas grinding
in finer size ranges. Grinding is deemed as an indispensable
method of comminution for separation of minerals from gangue
producing cleaner concentrate. Producing nearly gangue-free con-
centrate calls for fine grinding of material.
As no process is without its limitations, so is the comminution.
Through umpteen researches, it has been established that com-
minution is the most energy intensive process of concentrator.
The audit of energy consumption by comminution in Australian
copper and gold mines conducted by Ref. [2] revealed that, on an
average, 36% of total energy used by mines was consumed by com-
minution. On the national level, it accounted for 1.3% of Australia’s
gross electrical energy consumption. According to the report on
study of consumption of energy in Canadian underground base
metal mines, comminution consumed energy in the range of
15.2–32.1 kW h/t of crushed and milled gold ores [3].
Among crushing and grinding, grinding is a more energy-
consuming process than crushing [4]. It accounts for nearly 50%
of total energy requirement of concentrator. Ref. [4] explained this
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: adityasomani88@gmail.com (A. Somani).
area resulting from it approaches nearly infinity. Consequently,
energy consumption increases monotonically with it. Another
description relates to the fact that failure of material occurs from
cracks. As particles get finer successively, this cracked zone disap-
pears. This makes it more difficult to break material further. High
energy consumption in comminution can also be understood from
the fact that more than 90% of total energy supplied is dissipated as
heat, kinetic energy, noise, and ineffective breakage of material.
The repercussion of high energy consumption is generation of huge
grinding zone temperature. This temperature is sufficient enough
to create cracks on ground surface thus impairing the integrity of
whole system [5].
Ref. [6] recommended two ways to curtail wastage of energy in
comminution. One of the suggestions was to develop a pre-
treatment process to weaken mechanical properties of rocks before
subjecting them to comminution. Uncontrolled wastage of energy
has attracted the attention of researchers and industries globally in
the wake of worldwide augmenting energy demands, frequent
fluctuations in energy prices, and enhancement in global warming.
To address the grave issue of unrestrained power consumption
in comminution, rigorous investigations were undertaken by vari-
ous experts globally to develop alternative and novel methods of
comminution. These methods can be commonly termed as Pre-
treatment methods in the sense that rocks are exposed to some
sort of treatment before their full-scale mechanical comminution
by extant technology. As observed by Ref. [7], using Bond’s law

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2017.01.013
2095-2686/Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
340 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348
of comminution, it is the strength of rock which controls the power
consumption and product size under normal operating range of
industrial-scale cone crusher. The principal objective of the devel-
opment of a pre-treatment method is to weaken the mechanical
strength of rock prior to comminution. As experimentally
observed, it leads to hefty decrement in electrical energy consump-
tion by the virtue of increase in crushability and grindability of
treated rock.
However, although these methods have been found to efficient
at laboratory scale, these have not yet been converted to econom-
ically viable and commercially feasible technology which can be
employed for large-scale operations. The subject of current review
paper is, thus, to summarize work done in these areas of pre-
treatment methods and suggest main focus areas for future
investigations.
Among several methods experimented globally, following are
the methods which saw considerable efforts. These methods are
listed below as:
(1) Thermal breakage.
(2) Microwave heating.
(3) High-voltage pulse breakage.
(4) Ultrasonic breakage.
(5) Thermal shock.
Following sections deal with these methods in detail.
2. Thermal breakage
Thermal breakage, commonly known as conventional heating,
signifies heating rocks before comminuting them. The mechanism
of heat transfer in rock is convection, conduction, and radiation.
Heating of rocks induces inter-granular cracks in the rock matrix
and facilitate easy grinding and generation of less fines.
Numerous studies have proved that temperature plays a major
role in altering properties of substances than other operating con-
ditions like pressure, magnetic field, electric field, etc. In the review
paper, Ref. [8] highlighted the impact of subjecting rock to high
temperature condition prior to comminution. As reported, genera-
tion of fines was minimized, which improved comminution char-
acteristics and grindability of rock.
Ref. [9] attributed the enhancement in the metallurgical effi-
ciency and increase in grade and recovery of valuable minerals to
the heat treatment. The extensive investigation on the influence
of heating of Tin ore on its comminution characteristics proved
effectiveness of thermal pre-treatment method. It was reported
that 80% passing size of ore was reduced from 27.2 mm for
untreated ore to 22.3 mm for treated ore. This corresponds to
18% reduction in particle size. This dictates increase in brittleness
of ore post heating of rock. The plots of results of single pass crush-
ing reported by them are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It can be seen that
major proportion of product falls under 500 lm size range for
100
UT ore
80 HT ore
Passing (%)
60
40
20
0
4000 500 45
Size (μm )
Fig. 1. Mass per cent passing of ore.
100
UT ore
80
Distribution of tin (%)
HT ore
60
40
20
0
4000 500 45 0
Size (μm)
Fig. 2. Distribution of tin with product size.
heat-treated (HT) ore. This is in contrast to that observed for
untreated (UT) ore. Tin is mainly concentrated in finer size ranges
i.e. below 500 lm than for UT ore. It can also be seen that HT did
not produce considerable loss of tin in slimes.
The crusher result showed that HT ore produced 14% lesser
+4 mm product than UT ore. As a result of this, correspondingly
lesser amount of material would be recirculated to crusher and
bring down capacity requirement of crusher and screens. The pro-
duct of crusher was used as feed for grinding. As reported, for the
same grinding time, HT ore feed produced finer grinding product
than UT ore feed. After 5 min of grinding, while the size of UT
ore was about 300 lm, corresponding size of HT ore was about
225 lm. Another significance of this outcome was that the primary
grinding stage could be eliminated, thus saving considerable chunk
of energy and product of crusher could be sent directly for
concentration.
Ref. [10] obtained similar kind of results for lignite coal. Fig. 3
depicts the data reported after 20 min of grinding. As reported,
pre-treated coal ground finer than untreated coal. After 20 min of
grinding, 84% of pre-treated coal was finer than 13 lm while only
70% of untreated coal in same size range.
Ref. [11] studied the influence of temperature on the mechani-
cal strength of Tournemire Shale under hydrostatic, uniaxial and
triaxial compression tests for three values of confining pressure
of 5, 10 and 20 MPa. Fig. 4 depicts the results of triaxial tests for
the confining pressures of 10 and 20 MPa, drawn from the data
reported by them. It can be observed that increase in temperature
causes increase in brittleness of shale and thus, decrease in its
compressive strength.
In yet another study, Ref. [12] observed similar trend with gran-
ite and sandstone when subjected to temperature variation from
room temperature to 800 °C. It was observed that granite showed
gradual reduction in Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS) with
increase in temperature whereas UCS of sandstone did not change
substantially in the given temperature range but exhibited rapid
fall in UCS beyond 800 °C. Young’s Modulus of granite climbed
down at a rate faster than that of sandstone. On the same line,
[13] reported same pattern in the strength of granite when
exposed to temperature ranging from 105 °C to 600 °C. Initially,
for temperatures between 105 °C and 300 °C, a marginal (8%) fall
120 Pretreated
Untreated
Cumulative passing (%)
100
80
60
40
20
0 0 106 53 26 13 6.5 3.3
Size (μ m)
Fig. 3. Percentage passing of lignite coal after 20 min of grinding.
 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348
100
Compressive strength (MPa)
80
60
40
Compressive strength (10 MPa)
20
Compressive strength (20 MPa)
0 100 200
Temperature (
Fig. 4. Variation of compressive strength for confining pressures of 10 and 20 MPa.
in UCS was recorded. This reduction surged to 20% at 500 °C and to
47% at 600 °C. Young’s Modulus also followed similar trend under
same temperature range.
3. Microwave heating
In spite of some promising results obtained from conventional
heating in terms of reduction in mechanical properties of rocks,
it has not proved to be successful in context of reduction in energy
consumption, improved grindability, enhanced throughput, etc.
The principal cause of above demerits is its mechanism of heating
of rocks. The standard mechanisms of heat transfer through con-
vection, conduction, and radiation are very slow on account of
the fact that it requires long time for heat to defuse into the rock
matrix. Due to slow heating, density of cracks generated inside
matrix is low. Over and above, there is no selective heating of
intended mineral particles.
These serious limitations led researchers to the development of
more effective method of heating. This method makes use of a
radiowave namely Microwave. The basic mechanism of microwave
heating is microwaves are in the form of energy to which electric
and magnetic fields are associated. When this energy is absorbed
by dielectric material, its atoms are polarized. Resultant dipoles
align themselves according of alternating fields. These fields flip
about several billion times in a second which expedite change in
orientation of dipole. Due to the rapid change in orientation of
dipoles, the resultant stored energy is dissipated in the form of
heat within the volume of matrix.
Majority of naturally occurring ores have different thermal
properties. As a result of this, these ores undergo thermal expan-
sion to varying degrees due to differential thermal stresses created
within the lattice. Varying magnitude and extent of expansion
among different minerals result in generation of cracks at their
interfaces i.e. development of inter-granular and trans-granular
fractures. Microwave heating is a non-contact heating method
leading to volumetric and rapid heating of rocks and also selective
heating of minerals as opposed to conventional heating. On
account of expeditious and volumetric heating, the density of
cracks generated is high leading to substantial improvement in
grindability.
3.1. Factors influencing microwave heating of materials
3.1.1. Mineralogy and thermal properties of material
Thermal properties of minerals in rocks play a vital role in the
successful application of microwave heating method. Minerals
can be classified into three categories-insulator, conductor, semi-
conductor. According to Ref. [14], insulators (r < 10 8 X
m) are
transparent to microwave energy i.e. they absorb very little energy.
Conductors (r > 106 X
m) have high energy losses and low pene-
tration depth. Semi-conductors (r < 10 8–106 X
m) i.e. dielectrics
341
absorb considerable amount of microwave energy because of their
large dielectric loss factors. In other words, mineralogy of rock
influences its ability to undergo fracturing and offer less resistance
to comminution. Thus any change in mineral composition of rock
will greatly affect its heating characteristics.
As quoted by Ref. [15], silicates, carbonates, sulfates and some
oxides behave like insulators to microwave while sulfides,
arsenides, and sulfosalts, act like dielectrics to microwave. Refs.
[16,17] revealed that highest temperature was recorded for carbon
300 and most metal oxides viz. NiO, MnO2, Fe3O4, Co2O3, CuO, and
) WO3. Many metal sulfides, although heated well, did not show
consistent pattern of heating and temperature. Gangue minerals
like quartz, calcite, and feldspar were transparent to microwave.
A point has to be noted here that heating rates are different for
all materials, reason being difference in bonding properties of
these minerals.
In a nutshell, ability of rock to microwave heating depends of its
thermal diffusivity, common term for specific heat, thermal con-
ductivity, and density all taken together. This is a measure of
increase in temperature within matrix as a function of time of
exposure of microwave heat and penetration depth form the
surface.
Study conducted by Ref. [18] resulted in the work index curve of
massive copper (MC) and massive copper zinc (MCZ) as shown in
Fig. 5, obtained from data reported by them. As explained, the dis-
parity in the shape of curves of MC and MCZ is the result of differ-
ence in their mineralogy. In MC ore, the presence of rapidly heating
pyrite and chalcopyrite in transparent gangue matrix results into
more localization of thermal stresses. The presence of sphalerite
in MCZ ore, which heats at the lower rate than pyrite and chalcopy-
rite, in gangue matrix, results into more uniform distribution of
stresses and thus less concentration of thermal stress at the grain
boundaries. Due to change in mineralogy, there is 70% reduction
of work index of MC ore whereas 65% reduction of work index of
MCZ ore after 90 s of exposure to microwave followed by
quenching.
Ref. [19] observed that coal with ash content 38% from Jama-
doba experienced higher rise in temperature than the coal with
ash content 32% from West Bokaro for the same duration of heat-
ing. This observation is in agreement with the fact that mineral
matters heat up 2–3 times faster than carbonaceous matter.
3.1.2. Physical characteristics of mineral
It encompasses volume, surface area, size, and shape of mineral
particles, and texture and structure of rock matrix. These deter-
mine consistency and amount of power absorbed in matrix. Ref.
[15] reported that increase in volume of iron ore sample without
changing surface area did not change absorption of microwave
energy whereas with the increment in surface area of samples
from 50.24 cm2 to 126.6 cm2, the recorded increase in absorption
of microwave energy were from 36.6% to 61.82%. From Fig. 6,
12 Work index (MC ore)
10 Work index (MCZ ore)
Work index (kWh/t)
6
4
2
0 20 40 60 80 100
Microwave exposure time (s)
Fig. 5. Variation of work index with microwave exposure time after quenching.
342 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348
0.08
Specific breakage rate 0.06
0.04
0.02
0 100 200
Particle size (μ m)
Fig. 6. Variation of specific breakage rate with particle size for 30 s microwave
exposure time.
drawn from data obtained by Ref. [20], it can be seen that specific
breakage rate increases with the increase in iron ore size fraction.
Same nature of curve was reported for microwave exposure time of
60 s, 90 s, and 120 s. Ref. [21] reported results of effect of particle
size of lignite coal on specific rate of breakage for three different
mono size fractions. For 3350 + 2360 lm size range, specific
breakage calculated was 1.36 higher than for untreated coal. The
corresponding values of specific breakage rate for 2360
+ 1700 lm and 1700 + 1180 lm mono size ranges are 1.24 and
1.13 higher that untreated coal. This shows that ease of breaking
of coal reduces as particle size decreases for same exposure time.
Similarly, Ref. [22] reported that when exposed to microwave
power intensity of 900 W for 60 s, particles of size range 9.5
+ 8 mm attained temperature of 546 °C whereas sample of size
1 + 0.5 mm, under same conditions, had temperature of 485 °C.
Ref. [23] conducted microwave heating investigation on three
ores viz. limestone, dolomite, and quartz to assess their microwave
heating response and consequent changes in grindability. Each of
them was crushed and divided into three size fractions i.e. 9.75
+ 5.75 mm, 5.75 + 1.6 mm, and 1.6 mm. It was observed that
heating behavior and resultant grindability of only two ores i.e.
quartz and limestone changed with size of particles, effective size
fraction being 9.75 + 5.75 mm. The argument reported for no
effect at size below 5.75 mm was loss of heat due to conduction.
Another explanation presented by Ref. [20] is that with decrease
in size of particles, surface area increases. As a result of this, loss
of heat equals the rate of application of heat. Ref. [24] explained
role of texture and structure of rock matrix. They observed that
uniform spread of minerals, being dielectric, manifested improve-
ment in grindability than finely disseminated minerals after micro-
wave heating treatment.
3.1.3. Speed of heating and time of exposure
The speed of heating and duration of exposure to microwave
energy influences the generation of cracks and subsequent grind-
ability. The test conducted by Ref. [17] suggested speedy heating
of rock. Fig. 7, obtained from data reported by Kumar et al. [20],
shows that with the increase in microwave exposure time of iron
ore, its temperature increases correspondingly. Optical evidence
160
Temperature (ć)
120
80
40
0 50 100
Microwave exposure time (s)
Fig. 7. Variation of temperature of iron ore with microwave exposure time.
from SEM analysis by Ref. [20] of untreated and pre-treated iron
ore showed that heating of ore leads to micro-cracks in it and their
number increases with microwave exposure time. Also it was
shown that rate of breakage increases with microwave exposure
time (Fig. 8).
Ref. [19] observed that coal with high ash content experienced
higher increase in temperature with microwave exposure time
than coal with less ash content, as shown in Fig. 9 obtained from
300 data reported by them. This is on account of the fact that mineral
matters have 2 to 3 times faster microwave energy absorption ten-
dency that carbonaceous matter. In the following figure Coal-X
refers to coal with 38% ash content and Coal-Y refers to coal with
32% ash content.
3.1.4. Technical considerations
Technical aspects of this method deal with operating parame-
ters of microwave heating equipment. These parameters include
operating frequency i.e. 915 or 2450 MHz, and kind of magnetron
required to generate microwave of desired frequency. These
aspects also involve material conveying system to microwave
oven, power supply, and temperature sensors. Ref. [25] reported
results of the investigation on the influence of method of applica-
tion of microwave energy on the mechanical strength of rock. Two
methods of application viz. continuous wave and pulsed wave
were used. Under these methods, a given amount of energy input
was supplied while power density was increased. As reported, with
the increase in power density, same amount of reduction in
strength of rock is achieved in less time of exposure, thus saving
energy used to heat rock in microwave. However, comparison of
power densities used in two methods exhibited that pulsed wave
method required more power density than continuous wave
method for same amount of reduction of strength of rock. This
shows that continuous wave method would save more energy than
pulsed wave method.
Ref. [26] reported impact of two other technical parameters of
microwave heating system which were reported to have impact
of the strength of rock. As reported, 15 kW of power level reduces
strength by 55% of the original strength after just 1 s of exposure to
microwave while microwave system with power level of 5 kW
reduced strength after exposing rock for considerable amount of
time. This is shown in Fig. 10 obtained from their data. It was also
inferred that a certain minimum amount of power level is required
to induce a particular amount of damage in rock.
Another parameter studied was type of cavity to be employed.
As reported, for 10 kW of power level, time of 5 s is required to
reduce strength of rock by about 50% in multimode cavity system
whereas only 0.1 s is required to give same amount of reduction in
single-mode cavity.
Ref. [22] reported that, data shown in Table 1, increase in power
density increased temperature of particles. As evident, particle size
of 0.25 + 0.125, when exposed to 900 W microwave power level
for 50 s, was reported to have temperature of 330 °C whereas at
0.14
0.12
Specific breakage rate
0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
150 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Microwave exposure time (s)
Fig. 8. Variation of specific rate of breakage with microwave exposure time.
 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348 343

80 0.15 Coal X
Coal X
Coal Y

Specific breakage rate

Coal Y 0.13
60

Temperature (ć)
0.11
40
0.09
20 0.07

0.05
0 50 100 150 0 50 100 150
Microwave exposure time (s) Microwave exposure time (s)

Fig. 9. Effect of time of exposure to microwave on the temperature of coal. Fig. 11. Variation in specific breakage rate with duration of microwave exposure.

5
Point load index (15 kW)
ched after 4 h, 92% after 8 h and 97% by 12th hour of leaching after
Point load index (5 kW)
microwaving of gold ore whereas untreated gold ore produced 42%
4
Point load index (Pa)

gold after 4 h, 68% after 8 h and 92% after 24 h of leaching (Fig. 12).
3 Another investigation by Ref. [18] exhibited that the reduction
2 in work index of microwave treated material resulted in corre-
sponding decrement in circulating load, as shown in Fig. 13. It
1
was concluded that reduction in recirculating load to crusher
would enable installation of lesser capacity crusher and screens
0 5 10 15
Microwave exposure time (s) without affecting output of the plant.

Fig. 10. Point load index for different rated power.

4. High-voltage pulse breakage

Table 1 High-voltage electric pulse disintegration method is one of the

Effect of microwave power of temperature of mineral for exposure time of 50 s. most pursued methods besides microwave heating. Generation of
Size range (mm) Temperature at 450 W (°C) Temperature at 900 W (°C) fractures in the rock matrix is accomplished by two mechanism
namely electrostriction and electrical breakdown. Electrostriction
0.032 90 210
0.065 + 0.032 140 240 is the property of an electrical insulator which, when subjected
0.125 + 0.065 160 270 to electric field, undergoes deformation in some way. Electrical
0.25 + 0.125 180 330 breakdown means there is occurrence of rapid reduction in the
0.5 + 0.25 190 360 resistance to the flow of electrical current when the applied volt-
1 + 0.5 210 370
age across material exceeds breakdown voltage. Understanding
2+1 225 380
4+2 235 390 of mechanism of rock breakage of rock by electrical pulses has log-
8+4 240 400 ically led to the argument that effectiveness of this method is
+8 260 425 ascertained by differences in electrical properties of minerals.
Greater is the difference, more effective is the method. The electri-
cal properties of prime importance are permittivity and electrical
450 W power level, particles of same size range were observed to conductivity.
have temperature of 180 °C for the same duration of heating Ref. [28] explained mechanism of disintegration of rock and
exposure. effect of differences in electrical properties. When electric field is
applied, the atoms resist flow of current through them but eventu-
ally the atomic structure is changed leading to change in shape
3.2. Results of microwave heating treatment
through deformation. Due to differences in electrical properties,
each mineral undergoes deformation to varying degree which
Ref. [22] demonstrated that with the increase in microwave
results in varying expansion and stresses in rock matrix leading
exposure time of iron ore, saturation magnetization increased
to generation of micro cracks. The location and shape of micro
and an instance is reached when ferromagnetism occurred in par-
cracks create path for concentration of electrical field. This concen-
ticles. The reason posited to this was occurrence of phase changes
tration leads to the electrical breakdown along the path. This facil-
at the grain boundaries of minerals. This resulted in the formation
itates flow of channel of plasma through the path which is in the
of new magnetic phase (c-hematite) and altered magnetic proper-
form of tree with spreading trunks. A point is reached when this
ties of sample. As reported, this resulted into significant increase in
path joins electrodes. This constitutes the first stage of mechanism.
the recovery of iron by magnetic separation. The recovery of
untreated iron ore, at magnetic intensity of 1 T, was found to be
39.54% whereas the recovery of microwave treated iron ore, for 120
the same magnetic intensity, 900 W power level, and 90 s expo-
100
sure, was found to be 97.95%.
Gold recovery (%)

Similarly, Ref. [19] also reported relative ease of grinding of coal 80

post microwave exposure as compared to untreated coal. Corre- 60

sponding results of increase in breakage rate were also reported Microwave treated ore
40
for microwave treated coal. However, coal with less ash content Untreated ore
experienced more breakage rate than with more ash content, 20

shown in Fig. 11.

0 10 20 30
Study undertaken by Ref. [27] obtained results showing signif-
Leaching time (h)
icant increase in leaching of gold ore post microwave treatment in
comparison to untreated gold ore. As reported, 70% of gold was lea- Fig. 12. Recovery of gold in cyanidation process.
344 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348
1000
Recirculating load (t/h)
800
600
400
200
0 2 4 6 8 10
Work index (kWh/t)
Fig. 13. Change in recirculating load with work index.
In next stage, counter flow of ions takes place which promotes
widening of cracks. These widened cracks weaken integrity
between minerals and cause their liberation.
4.1. Factors influencing electrical disintegration
These factors can be classified into two categories viz. mineral-
related and operation-related. Mineral-related parameters are
mineral morphology, grain size of desired minerals, feed particle
size, differences in electrical properties of minerals and gangue
material, and shape and angularity of particles. Operation-related
parameters are number of pulses, high-voltage power supply,
high-voltage pulse generator, process area, discharge voltage, elec-
trode gap, and frequency of discharge.
4.1.1. Electrical properties
The impact of dielectric strength on the efficacy of electrical dis-
integration of rock can be understood from the experiments con-
ducted on coal and Banded Hematite Jasper (BHJ) iron ore
samples by Ref. [29]. When a high-voltage electric current was
passed through coal samples, the material shattered into pieces.
One of the reasons for this explosion was low dielectric strength.
On the other hand, when a 300 kV electric current was applied to
BHJ iron ore sample, there were no changes in micro-hardness of
ore. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) of treated sample
revealed that quartz and hematite remained affected while feld-
spar and magnesium burnt due to this high shock. The reason
behind this was high dielectric strength of BHJ iron ore due to
absence of any conductive mineral in it.
4.1.2. Feed particle size
Feed particle size influences the effective transfer of electrical
energy in the sense that coarser size particles provide a continuous
bridge between electrodes. This considerably reduces travel dis-
tance for energy, leading to less loss of energy. In case of fine feed
particle size, the discontinuity is created between electrodes.
Sparks jump from one particle to another which results in long tra-
veling distance and more loss of energy. Thus sizes of particles in
feed highly influence the disintegration of minerals.
4.1.3. Rock morphology and properties
It was found through experimental study that the rocks with
high porosity are amenable to electrical disintegration. The reason
quoted was that air has lower electrical breakdown strength than
water and rock itself. Thus, it promotes easier electrical breakdown
and formation of plasma channel. Rocks with higher quartz content
were reported to have fine size products. The reason represented
for this observation was its piezo-electric nature i.e. charges accu-
mulation in response to mechanical stress or its brittle nature. Ref.
[30] provided evidence that hard rocks are more fragile than softer
ones. With the increase in hardness of rock, electrical shocks can
easily cause fracture in them due to their brittle and fragile nature.
4.1.4. Energy input
Experiments by Ref. [31] proved that with the increase in
energy input, density of cracks generated also increases. However,
minimum amount of input energy would depend on rock proper-
ties, sizes of particles in feed, and electrical properties of con-
stituent minerals.
4.1.5. Sharpness and angularity of particles
12 According of the theory of electromagnetism, the electric field
intensity is more at sharp points than at relatively flatter surface.
This theory gives the argument that sharpness and angularity par-
ticles in feed will be more responsive to this method than any
other particle of different shapes.
4.2. Results of electrical disintegration study
Ref. [32] reported the results of effect of electrical disintegration
on various metal ores. The granulometric data showed that electri-
cal disintegration produced finer product than mechanical com-
minution for same kind of ore. The results of size analyses of
electrical comminution and rod milling were reported for copper
and nickel ores. It was observed that nickel ore reported to finer
size ranges than copper ore.
Ref. [33] reported that when platinum ores from Karee Meren-
sky and Eastern Platinum deposits were electrically disintegrated,
followed by standard flotation test yielded grade and recovery of
metals of platinum group and gold respectively as 76 g/t and 77%
for Karee Merensky and 24 g/t and 94% for Eastern Platinum depos-
its. Their corresponding figures for conventional comminution are
30 g/t and 76% for Karee Merensky and 14 g/t and 92% for Easter
Platinum deposits. The effect of electrical disintegration on the lib-
eration size of coal was studied by Ref. [34] Through experiment, it
was shown graphically that carbonaceous matter i.e. coal liberate
at coarser size range of +4 mm and +2–4 mm fraction while the
mineral matter reported mainly to finer size ranges below 2 mm.
Ref. [35] studied the impact of pre-treatment i.e. pre-weakening
of phosphate ore by electrical pulses on its crushability. The ore
sample in the size range of 5–7.5 cm was treated at input energy
levels of 3 kW h/t and 5 kW h/t. It was observed that energy con-
sumed in crushing pre-treated ore at 3 kW h/t and 5 kW h/t input
energy levels were reduced by 7.8% and 10.6% respectively. Analy-
sis of product particle size distribution of pre-treated and non-
treated ore samples showed that pre-treated ore produced finer
products than non-treated ore. Ref. [34] reported higher degree
of coal liberation by electrical disintegration than by conventional
grinding.
Similar studies were conducted [36] but these studies focused
only on weakening of rock by the application of electrical pulses
and then subjecting them to conventional mechanical grinding.
Results showed that energy consumption in grinding was reduced
by up to 24% when ores were treated by high voltage pulses of low
input energy. Experimental results reported by Ref. [21] revealed
that treated coal samples had 7.8% less volatile matter and 36% less
moisture content than non-treated coal samples. Moreover, the lib-
eration of carbonaceous material was 150% and 40% higher for
1.5 g/cm3 and 1.6 g/cm3 density treated coals respectively than
non-treated coal.
4.3. Present challenges
Ref. [12] listed the challenges which have to be overcome to
realize benefits of electrical comminution on industrial scale. The
first challenge is to scale up the laboratory work to industrial scale
which involves dealing with larger capacity, increasing the chances
of each particle getting exposed to electrical pulses. Another aspect
that demands focus is enhancement of efficacy of delivering the
 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348
electrical energy equally to entire feed which will have direct effect
on their mechanical comminution by conventional method.
Another challenge is the integration of process of electrical dis-
integration in comminution circuit, distribution of power in the
circuit, particle size of the feed to be treated which is in accordance
with ability of electrical disintegration system as well as comminu-
tion mill. Next issue to be addressed is to maintain cracks in ore
and prevent them from closing while undergoing comminution
at different stages.
Final and most important challenge which has direct impact on
the quality of final product is the effect of electrical treatment on
the effectiveness of downstream processes. It shall be ensured that
electrical treatment do not degrade surface chemistry or grade of
ore and shall not reduce recovery of valuable minerals in these
processes.
5. Ultrasonic breakage
Another method of pre-treatment of rock uses ultrasonic waves
which have frequencies more than 20 kHz i.e. frequency more than
human hearing range. Ultrasonic waves are produced when an
oscillating electric field is applied to a piezoelectric crystal which
converts it into mechanical vibration. The combination of mechan-
ical vibration and compression has proved to be an energy efficient
method, though only at laboratory scale. Material with inherent
cracks when subjected to ultrasonic treatment experienced widen-
ing of cracks which may propagate to the outer surface of material
[37].
5.1. Historical development
The history of ultrasonic pre-treatment dates back to 1981
when it was first experimented at Energy and Minerals Research
(EMR) Company at Exton, Pennsylvania. Their rotating roller ultra-
sonic device with the capacity of 10 lb/h and 30 lb/h produced an
output of 80% finer than 74 lm consuming about 3 kW h/t in com-
parison to 20 kW h/t by hammer mill to produce same product.
Ultrasonic device consumed 24 kW h/t for fine grinding in compar-
ison to 300 kW h/t for non-treated grinding application [38].
In 1988, The US Department of Energy applied ultrasonic com-
minution to Illinois No. 6 coal in the Coal Preparation Division at
Pittsburg Energy and Technology Centre (PETC). However, this pro-
ject proved to be a complete fiasco with results following opposite
trend. The study of effectiveness of ultrasonic comminution
resulted in the energy consumption of 300–400 kW h/t coupled
with very little size reduction [38].
In 1993, Ref. [38] studied the application of ultrasonic on the
comminution of Copper ore. This study led to the determination
of influencing factors which establish effectiveness of this method.
For this exploratory study, 200 g of three feeds having size frac-
tions as 9 ⁄ 14, 20 ⁄ 28, and 35 ⁄ 48 Tyler mesh. Electric input
power was fixed at 100 W. Each sample was subjected to three fre-
quencies of 15.11, 16.494, and 16.764 kHz. It was revealed that
although energy consumption increases with increment in fre-
quency but there exists an optimum frequency which produces
desired finer product. Although for 15.11 kHz frequency, energy
consumption was lower than that for 16.494 kHz frequency, latter
produced finer product than former. The study on effect of gap set-
ting in nip roller grinder revealed that energy consumption fol-
lowed linear trend with gap in roller grinder. The feed size
distribution has great influence on final product size. Smaller feed
size produces finer product. However, production of fines
decreases with reduction in feed size.
A recent study by Ref. [37] provided more promising results
with the use of High Pressure Roller Mill (HPRM) in which one of
345
the rollers is ultrasonically activated. Although conventional ball
mill and HPRM produced similar final particle size distribution,
the operational time for latter was 1.85 min and 40 min for former
and corresponding power consumptions were 6.8 kW h/t and
20 kW h/t respectively.
5.2. Practical issues
The success of ultrasonic comminution method is governed by
the ability to tap the synergistic potential of vibrating and com-
pressive stresses to weaken mechanical properties of targeted rock.
The important operating parameter is gap i.e. space between roll-
ers for roller mill used for grinding. Increase in gap results in
increase in energy consumption as well as production of less fine
products.
6. Thermal shock
Thermal shock is a phenomenon which results from consider-
able differences in temperature. When an object, at high tempera-
ture, is suddenly subjected to colder condition, a stress known as
Tensile Thermal Stress is developed within the body of object
resulting in generation of cracks. This takes place only when tensile
thermal stress exceeds tensile strength of material of object.
Similar phenomenon is observed in case of rocks. An abrupt
change in temperature of rock induces fracture in it [39]. Ref.
[40] explained mechanism of development of crack. Rocks have
lower thermal conductivities. This implies it requires longer time
for rock to transfer its heat to surrounding and establish equilib-
rium with it. So, when the hot rock is suddenly cooled, the mole-
cules converge together and increase density of rock. Due to
lower heat conductivity, the contracting molecules experience
stress due to change in density. This results in fracturing of rock.
The generation of fracture in rock is attributed to the fact that
ores/minerals constituting rock have different heat conductivities.
Through prior studies, it is known that object undergoes expansion
or contraction due to variation in temperature it is subjected to.
Due to different heat conductivities, these constituents experience
different amounts of expansion or contraction. This engenders
uneven deformation of rock, eventually leading to fracturing.
Ref. [41] corroborates the phenomenon of thermal shock in
granite. When cold water was circulated around hot dry rock,
due to induced tensile thermal stress, its strength reduced and
porosity increased. This favoured formation, propagation and
growth of cracks. The presence of moisture may be an added
advantage. Water undergoes expansion by about 9 per cent when
it freezes. This develops expansion pressure which is sufficient
enough to fracture rock and may shatter it as well.
Ref. [42] showed experimentally that decrement in strength of
rock is more pronounced when heated rock is immersed in water
than when it is air cooled. It was reported that reduction in uniax-
ial compressive strength (UCS) achieved post air-cooling was 34%
after heating up to 600 °C whereas corresponding decrease in
UCS for water-cooled sample was 50% when heated up to same
temperature (Fig. 14).
7. Comparison of different methods
The earlier sections highlighted some of the results of the appli-
cation of various pre-treatment methods. Careful analyses of these
results show the development of a promising method to treat
materials before subjecting them to conventional comminution
process. Two methods, pre-treatment by microwave heating and
electrical disintegration i.e. electrical comminution, have been
shown to more effectively liberate valuable minerals from the
346 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348
35
30
Compressive strength 25
(MPa)
20
15
10 Air-cooled
Water-cooled
5
0 200 400 600
Temperature (ć)
Fig. 14. Uniaxial compressive strength of rock after heating at different temper-
ature followed by cooling.
gangue matrix at relatively finer size ranges than mechanical com-
minution process.
An attempt has been made to prove efficacy of application of
ultrasound as a pre-treatment method. However, availability of
limited literature calls for more extensive investigation in this area.
This section aims to compare efficacies of aforementioned pre-
treatment methods with the help of data and results obtained from
experimental investigation of researchers globally. This would
enhance the understanding of the method and help in making rea-
sonable decision regarding the adoption of method based on the
mineralogical condition at hand. Earlier sections compared effec-
tiveness of conventional comminution process with these afore-
mentioned novel methods.
7.1. Comparison between microwave heating and thermal heating
Ref. [43] compared efficacy of the conventional and microwave
heating of high phosphorus oolitic iron ore. It was reported that
while microwave exposure of few seconds created considerable
amount of fracturing in rock matrix, even one hour of heating at
higher temperature by conventional means did not initiate notice-
able fracturing in rock. Also energy consumption in microwave
treatment was considerably lower than that in conventional heat-
ing. The grindability test showed that while weight percentage of
sample for 0.125 mm size fraction increased from 46.6% for
untreated sample to 50.8% for 1 h heating at 600 °C, the corre-
sponding increase in weight percentage for same size fraction for
60 s of microwave treatment was 59.76% from 46.6%, as reported
by them.
The above findings prove that microwave heating not only
improves the liberation and resulting comminution characteristics
of microwave treated ore more than conventional heating, but also
has the potential to reduce energy consumption which is otherwise
spent in heating material for hours at higher temperatures with no
conspicuous benefit realized in generation of fractures and subse-
quent liberation. Such method of conventional heating is even
more uneconomic than the mechanical comminution process.
7.2. Comparison between microwave heating and electrical
disintegration
Comparison of liberation results of microwave treated iron ore
from investigation of Ref. [20] and that of electrical disintegration
of iron ore i.e. hematite by Ref. [32] for particle size of 250 lm is
made. This shows that while the mass retained after electrical dis-
integration is 23.29%, the corresponding mass retained post micro-
wave treatment can be decreased to about 6% with increase in
grinding time. This comparison shows that microwave treatment
of ore produces finer product that electrical disintegration of same
ore.
The result of the floatability study conducted by Ref. [18]
showed that there is no marked increase in the grade of copper
post microwave treatment. On the other hand, Ref. [32] reported
that although recovery of copper was lower after electrical disinte-
gration, grade of the ore improved.
Ref. [22] defined the magnetic recovery ratio as fraction of mag-
netic material in the total weight. It was reported, post magnetic
separation tests, that after exposing iron ore to microwave for
90 s, magnetic recovery was 97.95% for 1 T magnetic intensity.
On the other side, Ref. [32] reported that after magnetic separation
800
of electrically disintegrated material, total recovery of Fe was
67.65% for the same magnetic intensity.
As observed and reported by Ref. [44] since electrical disinte-
gration method break solids by the virtue of expansion of high
temperature plasma, energy of pulses get dissipated as heat which
results into 25% to 40% more energy consumption than in mechan-
ical compression and impact. Moreover, electrical disintegration
creates split between minerals rather than disintegration of ore
fragments, causing more consumption of electrical energy.
In light of above results it can be concluded that microwave
pre-treatment method is more efficient method of liberation of
valuable minerals and size reduction than electrical disintegration.
The reason for this conclusion is that in microwave treatment
method, material is heated and then subjected to mechanical com-
minution which results into better liberation and enhanced recov-
ery of valuable minerals; whereas in electrical disintegration
method, the rock is comminuted with the use of high voltage elec-
trical pulses with the use of any mechanical means. Also former is
less energy intensive than latter.
7.3. Comparison between microwave heating and thermal shock
methods
In the grindability study conducted by Ref. [18], it was reported
that the reduction in bond work index of Massive Copper Zinc,
after 90 s of exposure of rock to microwave, was 50% while the cor-
responding reduction in bond work index, after same duration of
microwave exposure and followed by quenching with water, was
65%. Similarly, experiment conducted by Ref. [45] also showed that
the compressive strength of granite decreased by greatest amount
on subsequent quenching with water post microwave treatment
than quenching in air after microwave treatment for two different
powers of microwave 600 and 850 W (Fig. 15).
8. Conclusions
The present review paper attempted to summarize develop-
ments and advancements made globally to develop novel methods
of comminution. The primary goal of these methods was to
improve liberation and grade of valuable minerals and at the same
time bring down load of energy consumption on mining industry
and/or mineral processing plants. Many promising results are
reported by various researchers in these regards. They demon-
strated the ability of these methods to realize principal goal behind
the idea of development of pre-treatment methods.
1.2 Air-cooled
1.0 (600 W)
Ratio of compressive
Air-cooled
0.8 (850 W)
strength
0.6 Water-cooled
(600 W)
0.4
Water-cooled
0.2 (850 W)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Exposure time (s)
Fig. 15. Variation of compressive strength due to thermal shock.
 A. Somani et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 27 (2017) 339–348
The common central point of these methods was to examine the
efficiency of method in comparison to conventional i.e. mechanical
comminution method to liberate and separate minerals. The inves-
tigation encompassed aspects from reduction in mechanical
strength to recovery of metal in concentration processes. There is
a lack of investigation proving effectiveness of these methods with
regards to energy consumption. There needs a further probe to
quantify overall energy consumption in these methods.
The aforementioned results are obtained at the laboratory scale.
The quantity of material that is used was in the range of few grams
to few kilograms. In spite of promising results, there lack success-
ful implementation of these novel methods at the industrial-scale
operation. This also demands investigation to generate these
results at the larger scale where large tonnages of material are
required to be dealt with and handled.
Another area of investigation which attracted focus is the con-
cept of thermal shock. The results of the application of thermal
shock presented indicate toward an alternative and more efficient
method of pre-treatment. The means to induce thermal stresses in
rock material used so far by some investigators is quenching with
water. So far, effects thermal shocks are reported up to tempera-
tures down to 25 °C. This review paper also floats an idea to
investigate the application of thermal shock at much lower tem-
perature with the use of some cryogenic liquids like nitrogen
which has boiling point temperature of about 196 °C.
Rocks are composed of varied sizes of mineral grains of dissim-
ilar thermal and mechanical properties. On application of liquid
nitrogen on the heated rock surface, sudden cooling would occur
in different mineral grains lying in close contact. As mineral grains
generally have different thermal conductivity and thermal expan-
sion co-efficients, a differential volumetric contraction among
adjacent mineral grains would occur, which could give rise to a
potential thermo-mechanical stress leading to weakening of rock
by generating inter-granular and trans-granular cracks. It may
even cause localized spalling of mineral matters, which may be ter-
med as ‘cryo-fragmentation’ or ‘cryo-cracking’ of rocks. Moreover,
change in brittleness of mineral matters will also cause the rock to
fail under lower stress. Thus, the possibility of rock grinding at
cryogenic temperature with much reduced energy consumption
could also be explored.
Cryogenic grinding is already an established technology for
crushing non-metallic such as polymer, rubber etc. However, eco-
nomic viability or suitability of crushing of rocks with cryogenic
treatment is yet to be established. Ref. [46] experimentally
observed an energy saving of about 47% when conducted tests on
cooled red stone quartzite after dipping in liquid nitrogen for
40 min. Stones were crushed under compressive stress when
induced strain energy exceeded the material’s capability to with-
stand maximum strain energy. Unlike the metals, rock materials
have high modulus of elasticity and exhibit small strain before fail-
ure. When a rock material is cooled to cryogenic temperature and a
compressive load is applied, strain developed in the material
would be due to the applied load and the thermal stress that is
developed because of thermal contraction.
One of the major concerns in cryogenic grinding is the time
required for penetration of cold into the rock. Smaller the size of
the rock particle, lesser will be the time requirement for cooling.
In conventional method of grinding, cost increases very rapidly
with reduction of the particle size. On the other hand, smaller size
particles can be quickly made brittle at cryogenic temperature.
Thus, cryogenic grinding might be an effective way of grinding
the smaller particles. Changes in properties of mineral matters
due to cryogenic treatment may even alter the liberation size of
a particular ore type.
347
Acknowledgments
Authors acknowledge the support provided by Indian Institute
of Technology, Kharagpur.
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