Course name: Comminution and Classification

Course code: CCL910S

Programme: Master of Engineering in Metallurgy
Lecturer: Mr. T. Nghipulile

Topic: Comminution tests

 Comminution Tests
1. Bond tests (developed in 1950s, widely used testing approach, design guidelines (power requirements), used for comparisons)
a) Bond Ball Mill Work Index (BWI)

b) Bond Rod Mill Work Index (RWI)

c) Bond abrasion Index Test (AI)

d) Bond Crushing Work Index (CWI)

2. JK Drop Weight Test

3. Point Load Test (PLT)

4. SAG Mill Comminution (SMC) Test

5. Advanced Media Competency Test (AMCT)

6. SAGDesign Test

7. SAG Power Index Test (SPI)

8. Unconfined Compression Strength (UCS) Test

9. Levin test

10. Grindability Test (milling time versus product size distribution)

2
 Bond Ball Mill Work Index
• The BWI is an indication of how much energy is required to grind a
sample in a ball mill, from 3.35mm to about 0.075mm.
Detailed procedures:
• A standard test would require a minimum of 10 kg of material https://www.911metallurgi
st.com/blog/bond-work-
crushed to a nominal size of -3.35 mm. index-test-procedure-and-
method
44.5
𝑊𝑖 = 1.1 × Or In the textbook of
10 10
𝑃𝑖0.23 𝐺 0.82 − Gupta and Yan (2006)
𝑃80 𝐹80
➢ Wi is the work index of the ore (kWh/t), Pi is the test sieve size
(closing/limiting screen), G is the net weight of product passing sieve size Pi
produced per mill revolution (g/rev), P80 and P80 are 80% passing sizes of
feed and product respectively.

Wi (kWh/t) 7-9 9 - 14 14 - 20 >20

Classification Soft Medium Hard Very hard

• Based on the BWI and utilising other parameters, it is then possible to calculate the design size of the mill based on ore
throughput.
Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 3
 Bond Ball Mill Work Index versus Operating Work Index (OWi)

44.5
Wi = 1.1 × ➢ Indicates the grindability of the ore. It is determined in
10 10 the laboratory.
Pi0.23 G 0.82 −
P80 F80 Wi (kWh/t) = quartz (13.6), graphite (43.6), coal (13.0), dolomite (11.3) and granite
(15.1) and fluorspar (8.9) and barite (4.7)

Wi𝑜 = 𝑊
൚ 10 10 ➢ Indicates the performance of a mill or circuit. It is
−
P80 F80 calculated from plant operating data and it is dependent
on grindability of the ore and efficiency of the mill or
W is power applied to mill pinion shaft circuit. The Wio can be used to assess effect of operating
(Remember to convert motor input variables (mill fill, speed, ball size distribution, etc.)
power to mill pinion shaft power)

➢ Efficiency of the grinding operation. The efficiency of

Wi
Grinding efficiency = × 100 100% implies the mills/circuit performance is comparable
OWi to mills that were there when Bond developed the
standard grindability tests.
Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 4
 Bond Ball Mill Work Index – further calculations

Limiting F80 (µm) P80 (µm) Net Production Work Index

44.5 Screen (µm) (g/rev) (kWh/t)
Wi = 1.1 × 106 2578.00 66.00 0.95 17.0
10 10
Pi0.23 G 0.82 − 75 2578.00 55.00 0.81 18.8
P80 F80
➢ Observe a variation Wi with limiting screen. Any
comment?

1 1
W = E = 10Wi − Class exercise/Homework:
P80 F80
Q1: Calculate the energy requirement for ball mill with F80
of 6 mm and P80 of 75 µm.
Power P = E × Q × (EF1 × 𝐸𝐹2 × 𝐸𝐹3 … )
(answer: )

➢ Q is the throughput and EF1… are Bond’s efficiency Q2: If the mill throughput is 1000 tph, what would be the
factors. total power draw by the mill?

(answer: )
Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 5
 Levin Test
• Refer to https://www.911metallurgist.com/blog/levin-grindability-index-test-method-procedure
• Also refer to Levin Levin’s paper in 1992: https://www.saimm.co.za/Journal/v092n10p283.pdf
• Grindability measured as kWh/t of minus 75 µm (size-specific index abbreviated as SE75). Can be
calculated from standard Bond grindability test data.
19.8× 100−𝑈
𝑆𝐸75 = kWh/t of minus 75 µm produced
𝐺 𝑃75 −𝐹75

• From plant operating data, metallurgists calculate the kWh per tonne of -75 µm produced (index
abbreviated as OE75). Similar to OWi – also a function of both mill efficiency and ore’s grindability.,

𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑊 ×𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (ℎ)

𝑆𝑆𝐸75 =
𝑂𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑡 × %<75 µ𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡−%<75 µ𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑 ൗ100

• Grinding efficiency can then be calculated as follows;

𝑆𝐸75
𝐺𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = × 100
𝑂𝐸75

Circuit Efficiency (%)

SE75/OE75 x 100 Wi/OWi x 100
Rod and pebble mills 88 87
Ball and pebble mills 84 82
Single-stage SAG mills 71Comminution and Classification (CCL910S)
74- T. Nghipulile 6
Source: Levin (1992)
 SAG Power Index (SPI) test

➢ An indicator of ore breakage response to SAG abrasion events.

➢ Batch tests conducted in a 30.5 cm (diameter) by 10.2 cm (length) mill charged with 5 kg of steel balls.

➢ Sample is crushed to 100% passing 19 mm and 80% passing 13 mm (about 2 kg).

➢ Locked cycle runs until sample is 80% passing 1.7 mm.

➢ The time required to reach a P80 of 1.7 mm is converted to SAG power index (Wsag) using proprietary transformation.

𝑛
𝑆𝑃𝐼
𝑊𝑠𝑎𝑔 = 𝐾𝑓𝑠𝑎𝑔 0.5
𝑇80

➢ Parameters K and n are empirical factors, fsag incorporates a series of calculations (unpublished) which estimate the

influence of factors such as pebble crusher recycle load, ball load and feed PSD.

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 7

 SAGDesign test
➢ It measures the pinion energy to grind ore from 80% passing 152 mm to 80% passing 1.7
(WSDT).
➢ The 2nd stage of test BBWI on SAG ground ore, Sd – BWI.
➢ Ore feed is prepared from a minimum of 10 kg of split or whole diamond drill core pieces
or Run-of-Mine (ROM) ore., by stage crushing the ore in a jaw crusher to 80% passing 19
mm.
➢ Crushed ore is ground in SAGDesign SAG mill (489 mm inside diameter by 163 mm EGL)
that operates with parameters similar to commercial SAG mills (26% total charge, 11% steel
load, 15% ore load and rotation of 76% of critical speed)
➢ Cumulative mill revolutions (revs) to 80% passing 1.7 mm is used together with mass of
SAG mill charge to compute the SAG mill specific pion energy.

𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑠 × 16000 + 𝑚𝑠
𝑊𝑆𝐷𝑇 =
447.3 × 𝑚𝑠
Where ms is SAG mill feed sample mass (g). Source: https://sagdesign.com/

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 8

 Rod Mill Work Index
• The RWI for rod mills is a value that gives a measure of the energy needed to grind an ore sample
from 12.5 mm as feed to a rod mill, to about 1 mm.

• A minimum of 15 kg of material (usually drill core) crushed to a nominal size of

-12.5 mm is required.

• The test is conducted to achieve a stable 100% circulating load.

• The RWI derived is used for determining (with other factors) whether critical size will form in a SAG
mill. (read on Barratt method)

Wi (kWh/t) 7-9 9 - 14 14 - 20 >20

Classification Soft Medium Hard Very hard

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 9

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 10
 Crushing Work Index
▪ The Crushability Test gives a guide to the impact resistance of the ore.

▪ A succession of rocks are broken by a calibrated hammer and the energy per unit mass
for breakage determined.

▪ This is expressed as the Crushing Work Index (CWI).

▪ The test can be performed on core, cubed or cylindrical, or natural size samples.

▪ The CWI can therefore determine the crushability based on units of kWh/t.

▪ CWI used for calculating crusher power requirements and describes the
competency of an ore at larger particle sizes.

▪ Values of Bond crushing work index will vary from about 8 kWh/t for laterite hard-cap 53.49 × 𝐶50
𝐶𝑊𝐼 =
through to 22 kWh/t for banded iron formation to 46 kWh/t for fresh greenstone. 𝜌

▪ 20 to 30 rock specimens sized at -76+51 mm are needed for testing.

Wi (kWh/t) 7-9 9 - 14 14 - 20 >20

Classification Soft Medium Hard Very hard

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 11

 Bond Abrasion Index Test

▪ The Abrasion Index (AI) provides an indication of the metal wear rates in crushers,
(such as liner wear rates), and grinding media consumption rates, (i.e. ball charge
loads for ball mills).

▪ Such wear indications are needed to give accurate operating cost

estimates.

▪ The result of the AI test indicates the amount of wear

experienced by a plate in a standard wear test.

▪ It is an Index and typical mining industry values are about 0.3, with a high
value being 0.8.
➢ The higher the Ai the greater the abrasiveness of the ore and the lower the life
factor of the comminution machine.
➢ Highly abrasive ores (e.g., quartzite) have Ai = 0.75±1.12 while others that cause
little wear (e.g., limestone) have Ai of 0.01 to 0.03.
𝐴𝑖
▪ Each ore type that will be processed in the plant should be tested. = 𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒
− 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒
▪ Sample requirements for this test will need 1.6 kg of -

19.7+12.5 mm of representative crushed ore.

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 12
Bond Abrasion Index Test

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 13

 Uniaxial compressive strength

• It describes maximum axial load that the sample can withstand before failing.
• The rock is sampled by core drilling and sample that best represents the rock mass is selected.

• Minimum diameter of the sample is 47 mm and it should be 10 times than the largest grain
in sample.
• Ratio of length to diameter of the sample (L/D) must be 2 and 2.5 according to the ASTM
(American Society for Testing and Materials) standard and between 2.5 and 3 according to
ISRM (International Society for Rock Mechanics) standard.
• Continuous load increase is from 0.5 to 1 MPa.

𝑃
𝜎=
𝐴
➢ Where 𝜎 is uniaxial compressive strength in MPa, P is the force failure in kN and A is the
sample area in mm2.

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile Source: Geotech 14

 Uniaxial compressive strength
Classification soft medium hard very hard

Strength UCS (MPa) 50 - 100 100 - 150 150 - 250 >250

Strength classification Strength range Typical rock types

Very weak 10 – 20 Weathered and weakly-compacted

sedimentary rocks.
Weak 20 – 40 Weakly-cemented sedimentary rocks, schists

Medium 40 – 80 Competent sedimentary rocks; some low-

density coarse-grained igneous rocks
Strong 80 - 160 Competent igneous rocks; some metamorphic
rocks and fine-grained sandstones
Source: Website of Geotech.hr
Limitation: UCS test may not give actual rock strength since it does not assess the effect of internal weaknesses, etc.
However, it is a simple standard test which is widely accepted in the industry (sample preparation and adherence to
standard are key factors).
➢ Rock UCM (UCS with elastic modulus) test can help assess whether rock UCS value reported is affected by any
internal weakness plane.
Note: Igneous rocks are formed from melted rock deep inside the Earth (e.g., Kimberlite, granite, basalt, pegmatite), Sedimentary rocks are formed from
layers of sand, silt, dead plants and animal remains (e.g., sandstone, banded iron, shale) and metamorphic rocks are formed from other rocks that are
changed by heat and pressure underground (e.g., marble, sphalerite, schist)
Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 15
 Drop weight test – impact and abrasion

• Developed by JKMRC – (1) resistance to impact breakage, (2) resistance abrasion breakage (-53+37.5
mm) and (3) density of 20 particles is measured to get average ore density
• Single particles are individually impacted at different input energies calculated using the following
equation.
𝑀𝑔ℎ
𝐸𝑐𝑠 =
3.6 × 𝑚ሶ 𝑝

• The t10 is related to the breakage parameters A and b using the following equation.

𝑡10 = 𝐴 1 − 𝑒 −𝑏∙𝐸𝑐𝑠

Where Ecs is the specific input energy in kWh/t.

• About 100 kg of -100+13 mm Or 120 kg full core (50 mm diameter) is required to allow single
particle breakage test across 15 size/energy combinations (E: 0.1 to 2.5 kWh/t, size fractions: -
16+13 mm, -22.4+19 mm, -31.5+26.5 mm, -45+37.5 mm and -63+53 mm).

A*b range Classification

0 to 30 Very hard
~30 to 39 Hard
~39 to 43 Moderately hard
~43 to 56 Medium
~56 to 67 Moderately soft
~67 to 127 Soft
Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 16
~127 to 956 Very soft
 Drop weight test – how results are used

• A*b, Ta, appearance function (tn-t10 family curve), etc inputted into JKSimMet for circuit modelling and simulation

10−1 𝛼
𝑡𝑛 = 1 − 1 − 𝑡10 𝑛−1

➢ Wi is also used in the simulator

• For greenfield design – predict sizing (kW) requirements.

• Existing mills: throughput forecasts if the ore changes, i.e. mitigation strategies for hard rocks.

• JKDWT results are also used to model crusher – power draw prediction, changing shape of feed/product sizing (not just

F80 and P80), accounts for changes in recirculating loads

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 17
 SAG Mill Comminution (SMC) Test

• Developed by Steve Morrell of SMC Testing (Pty) Ltd – cost effective in terms of small
samples for obtain design parameters.
• Sample requirements is approximately 30 kg.
• It generates relationship between input energy (kWh/t) and percent of broken product
passing a specified sieve size.
• Drop weight index (Dwi) is determined. The Dwi measures the rock strength when it is
broken under impact conditions.
• Dwi is directly related to JK impact parameters A and b which are used in JK SAG mill
models to predict throughput, power draw and product size distribution.
• Five sets of 20 particles in size range of -31.5+26.5 mm (or any of the other two size 𝑓 𝑥2 𝑓 𝑥1
𝑊𝑖 = 𝑀𝑖 4 𝑥2 − 𝑥1
classes) are prepared and each set is broken at a specific energy level using the DW
tester. One size fraction is tested.
• Progeny are screened at a size equivalent to one tenth of the original particle size.
• Results are then submitted to JK Tech for analysis.
• Additional work indices for crushers and mills – fitted to Morrell Power relationship
Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 18
 Advanced Media Competency Test

• Advanced media competency test developed by Orway Mineral Consultants and Amdel.

• Feed top size is 165 mm.

• It is a tumble test in a 6’ x 1’ mill using ten large rocks in five size fractions in the range 104 to 165 mm. The mill is rotated for 500

revolutions and the charge is sized.

• Surviving rocks are subjected to Bond’s low-energy impact energy tests in five size fractions.

• Fracture energy test provides the relationship between the first fracture energy requirement and rock size.

• Data interpreted together wit other Bond indices and database.

Read about other tests – Point Load test, lab-scale HPGR test, Macpherson Autogenous grindability test, etc.

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 19

 Milling tests for Ecs versus Product PSD relationship

• Batch milling of sample in a laboratory mill at typical plant conditions (about 75% of critical speed, fractional mill volume of ball charge
about 35 to 40%, pulp density is normally 40 to 50% (v/v), U = 100%, etc.) – various input energies (residence times).
• Milling conditions and feed size distributions should be as close as possible to those for commercial plant because selection function is
very sensitive to these conditions.
• Maximum ball size in the charge is an important variable for efficient grinding. The proper size of grinding media should break the
largest feed particles.
✓ If media is too large, the number of breaking contacts will be reduced, extreme fines made by each contact will be increased and milling capacity
could be reduced.
✓ If the media is too small, there will be wasted contacts of a force insufficient or too weak to break the particles nipped.
✓ In either case, the grinding efficiency will be reduced, but the use of undersize media is usually more harmful than the use of oversize media.
• Maximum ball size is calculated by the following equation

𝐷𝑏 = 6 𝑑𝑓 log 𝑑𝑝

Where df is the size of the largest particles in the feed (mm) and dp is the size of the largest particle in the product (µm)

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 20

 Milling tests for Ecs versus Product PSD relationship – Si and bij
• Grinding behavior can be expressed mathematically in terms of selection and breakage functions.
• These functions determine the relationship between particle size distribution of the mill inlet and discharge streams.
➢ Selection function (Si) gives rates of breakage per unit mass of material out of a given size class.
➢ Breakage function (bij) is the size distribution of material breaking out of size class j which appears in size class i before being re-broken.
• Population balance of mass of material in size class i (mi) for batch milling is given by following equation

𝑖−1
𝑑𝑚𝑖 (𝑡) 𝑃 𝑃
= −𝑆𝑖𝐸 𝑚𝑖 𝑡 + ෍ 𝑏𝑖𝑗 𝑆𝑖𝐸 𝑚𝑖 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡 𝐻 𝐻
𝑗−1

➢ Where mi is the mass of material in a specific size class di., P is net power input to the mill (kW) and H is the total mass of material being
milled (hold-up) (tons)
• Herbest and Fuerstenau (1980) have shown that the size-discretized rates of breakage (Si) for milling are proportional to the net specific
𝑃
power input to the mill given by such that.
𝐻

𝛼
𝑃 𝑑𝑖
𝑆𝑖 = 𝑆𝑖𝐸 If we ignore effects of grinding media size, 𝑆𝑖𝐸 = 𝑘
𝐻 𝑑1

Comminution and Classification (CCL910S) - T. Nghipulile 21