Grinding Behaviour of Microwave-Irradiated Mining Waste

The combined microwave-assisted sorting and comminution of minerals has been proposed to reduce the huge grinding energy consumption in mineral processing. However, gangue would be discarded after process despite microwave absorbed during their treatment. Therefore, this paper investigates effect pretreatment on Bond work index (BWI) quartz calcite samples, as they represent dominant gangues many ores are key inputs cement industry, which requires intensive grinding. samples were characterized using a scanning electron microscope coupled with dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) diffraction (XRD) methods. BWIs two determined before treatment (2.45 GHz, 1.7 kW) at 2, 4 6 minutes. SEM image analyses untreated microwave-treated performed ImageJ software. results showed that minutes radiation treatment, BWI studied was reduced by 13.83%, while increased 15.59%. analysis indicated developed more cracks than under same conditions. Based these findings, is suitable quartz, but offers no energy-saving benefit calcite.