Breakage and Liberation Characteristics of Iron Ore from Shinyemi Mine by Ball Mill

Abstract

This study aims to investigate breakage and liberation characteristics of iron ore from Shinyemi mine, Jeongseon by ball mill. Parameters of breakage functions for three grade samples of iron ore were obtained using single-sized-feed breakage test and back-calculation based on nonlinear programming. The results showed that with the increase in the grade of iron ore, the breakage rate factor decrease whereas the particle size sensitivity decreases. This results from retardation of micro-crack-propagation by magnetite grain in the ore. Breakage distribution analysis showed that the breakage mechanism appear to be impact fracture dominant with the increase of grade owing to the stress distribution effect by magnetite grain. Degree of liberation (DOL) increased with the increase in grade and decrease in particle size, respectively. Using the breakage function and size-DOL relationship, a model that can predict time-dependent-DOL is established. When scale-up factors from operating condition are available, the model is expected to be capable of predicting size and DOL with time in actual mining process.