|
The use of water and wet processing techniques facilitates the sizing of fine particles (classification) and the dispersal and subsequent rejection of finely sized mineral particles, e.g. clays. Consequently, the process plant may frequently also contain pumping and slurry handling equipment and unit processes of solid-liquid separation for final dewatering of the aggregate products and even waste products.
Mineral separation processes are occasionally employed to reject material of undesirable physical or chemical properties. In this respect the process of sizing is commonly used adventitiously or deliberately to separate a particular mineral fraction of the aggregate as will be discussed below.
Comminution is an energy intensive and relatively expensive process whose use must be minimized and the agglomeration of fine particles to create larger sizes is rarely if ever economically justified.
Therefore, as discussed in Chapter 3, in the case of sand and gravel deposits it is important to determine the relative proportions of the ‘sand’ and ‘gravel’ sizes.
...
This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
