Abstract
Comparison of compressive and explosive disintegration of rocks aimed at the liberation of valuable minerals shows the great advantage of explosive disintegration. This advantage is especially noticeable where it is important to preserve crystals of precious stones. Electrocrushing devices ensure the explosion of rock lumps by means of almost contactless (just a touch of electrodes) methods that generate plasma in solids during the transfer of the electrical pulse through the rock. Analysis of electrical breakdown products of different rocks versus fragmentation of solids and results of mineral liberation by electro-crushing show predominantly tensile breakage of mineral aggregates by explosive electro-crushing. High-voltage pulses induce non-destructive liberation of precious stones and other minerals having a boundary with rock matrices. The examples of liberating diamond, emeralds, gold, platinum and coal are discussed.
Published Version
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