3.4.2 Milling
The first stage in concentrating copper consists of liberating the minerals from one another.
To do so, the ore, which has often undergone primary crushing in the mine, is ground again until it is the size of gravel.
A conveyor belt moves the ore gravel to a ball or rod mill.
This type of mill has a horizontal cylindrical milling chamber filled with steel balls or rods that grind the ore when they collide.
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The ore, to which a mixture of water and chemicals is added, is fed into one end of the mill.
The mill rotates, causing the steel balls or rods to cascade, which in turn grinds the ore. The fine particles of ore come out the other end.
Particles which were not ground sufficiently are separated from the rest and returned to the mill.
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