A Review of the Grinding Media in Ball Mills for Mineral Processing

Abstract

The ball mill is a rotating cylindrical vessel with grinding media inside, which is responsible for breaking the ore particles. Grinding media play an important role in the comminution of mineral ores in these mills. This work reviews the application of balls in mineral processing as a function of the materials used to manufacture them and the mass loss, as influenced by three basic wear mechanisms: impact, abrasion, and corrosion. The effect of grinding media geometries and density on the mill performance was also reviewed to determine what the research has recommended as the most suitable grinding media for different grinding applications. Although considerable work has been carried out in that area, the influence of grinding media shape on the liberation of minerals, as well as the effect of various mill conditions on the performance of mixed grinding media shapes, are still poorly understood. Thus, the review opens up opportunities for further research to improve the grinding processes, especially considering that even a slight improvement in the process efficiency significantly reduces the production costs.

Optimization of adaptive and sustainable gold ore grinding processes for better environmental and land conditions in the small-scale gold mining sector in Indonesia

“…The simplified grinding process parameters in Table 6. is based on the modified principle of operation of grinding process (Deniz and Onur, 2002;Tangsathitkulchai, 2003;Deniz, 2004;Lamect et al, 2006;Erdem et al, 2009;Cho et al, 2013;Mulenga and Moys, 2014;Shahbazi et al, 2020;Matsanga et al, 2023). Since most ASGM operators have no academic knowledge of gold processing, they can directly use Table 6.…”

“…Several studies have indicated that the efficiency of the grinding process is influenced by the filling of the grinding medium (Deniz, 2016;Mulenga et al, 2016;Zhao et al, 2017), material powder filling (Deniz and Onur, 2002;Tangsathitkulchai, 2003;Mulenga and Moys, 2014), size of grinding medium (Erdem and Ergün, 2009;Cho et al, 2013;Kabezya and Motjotji, 2014;Matsanga et al, 2023), rotational speed (Deniz, 2013;Mulenga and Moys, 2014), mud density (Tangsathitkulchai, 2003;Mulenga and Moys, 2014;Mulenga et al, 2016), types and forms of media (Lameck et al, 2006;Shahbazi et al, 2020;Matsanga et al, 2023).…”

Scaling Energy Transfer in Ball Mills: A Scale-Agnostic Approach through a Universal Scaling Constant

“…Ball mills play a crucial role in the mineral-processing industry, primarily for particle size reduction and liberation of valuable minerals from ores [1,2]. This process is essential, as it directly influences the efficiency and effectiveness of subsequent extraction and beneficiation stages [3].…”

The Influence of the Grinding Media Diameter on Grinding Efficiency in a Vibratory Ball Mill

“…In almost every case, using each of the materials mentioned above requires grinding it to the required grain size, often below 1 mm or even up to several dozen nanometers. This grinding is carried out in various types of mills: ball mills [ 1 ], stirred mills [ 2 , 3 ], cylindrical mills [ 4 , 5 ], vibratory mills [ 6 , 7 , 8 ] and others [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. The grinding energy requirement increases as the grinding product’s grain size decreases.…”

“…In the case of mills with free grinding media (balls), one of the parameters strongly affecting the grain size parameters of the grinding product (the ability to achieve the desired particle size distribution) is the proper selection of the mill set (diameter, material from which they are made). In the literature, one can find many studies regarding the influence of the type of grinding media used on the grain size parameters of the grinding product—however, these studies mainly concern stirred mills [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ] and ball mills [ 1 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. It is challenging, however, to find studies regarding the influence of the type of mills used on the grinding efficiency in vibratory mills—which is the subject of this article.…”