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Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

An Introduction to the Practical Aspects of Ore Treatment and Mineral Recovery

Wills' Mineral Processing Technology provides practising engineers and students of mineral processing, metallurgy and mining with a review of all of the common ore-pr… Read more

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Description

Wills' Mineral Processing Technology provides practising engineers and students of mineral processing, metallurgy and mining with a review of all of the common ore-processing techniques utilized in modern processing installations. Now in its Seventh Edition, this renowned book is a standard reference for the mineral processing industry. Chapters deal with each of the major processing techniques, and coverage includes the latest technical developments in the processing of increasingly complex refractory ores, new equipment and process routes. This new edition has been prepared by the prestigious J K Minerals Research Centre of Australia, which contributes its world-class expertise and ensures that this will continue to be the book of choice for professionals and students in this field.This latest edition highlights the developments and the challenges facing the mineral processor, particularly with regard to the environmental problems posed in improving the efficiency of the existing processes and also in dealing with the waste created. The work is fully indexed and referenced.

Key features

  • The classic mineral processing text, revised and updated by a prestigious new team
  • Provides a clear exposition of the principles and practice of mineral processing, with examples taken from practice
  • Covers the latest technological developments and highlights the challenges facing the mineral processor
  • New sections on environmental problems, improving the efficiency of existing processes and dealing with waste.

Readership

Students and Practitioners of Mineral Processing, Metallurgy, Mining and related fields.

Table of contents

  • Preface to 7th Edition
  • Acknowledgements
  • Chapter 1: Introduction
    • Publisher Summary
    • Minerals and ores
    • Mineral processing methods
    • Efficiency of mineral processing operations
    • Concentration
    • Economics of tin processing
    • Economics of copper processing
    • Economic efficiency
  • Chapter 2: Ore handling
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • The removal of harmful materials
    • Ore transportation
    • Ore storage
    • Feeding
  • Chapter 3: Metallurgical accounting, control and simulation
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Sampling and weighing the ore
    • Slurry streams
    • Automatic control in mineral processing
    • Neural networks
    • Circuit design and optimisation by computer simulation
    • Mass balancing methods
    • Introduction to mass balances on complex circuits
    • Design of experiments and plant trials
  • Chapter 4: Particle size analysis
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Particle size and shape
    • Sieve analysis
    • Sub-sieve techniques
  • Chapter 5: Comminution
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Principles of comminution
    • Comminution theory
    • Grindability
    • Simulation of comminution processes and circuits
  • Chapter 6: Crushers
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Primary crushers
    • Secondary crushers
    • Crushing circuits and control
  • Chapter 7: Grinding mills
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • The motion of the charge in a tumbling mill
    • Tumbling mills
    • Grinding circuits
  • Chapter 8: Industrial screening
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Performance of screens
    • Factors affecting screen performance
    • Screen types
  • Chapter 9: Classification
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Principles of classification
    • Types of classifier
  • Chapter 10: Gravity concentration
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Principles of gravity concentration
    • Gravity separators
    • Jigs
    • Pinched sluices and cones
    • Spirals
    • Shaking tables
    • Pneumatic tables
    • Duplex concentrator
    • Mozley Laboratory Separator
    • Centrifugal concentrators
    • Gold ore concentrators
  • Chapter 11: Dense medium separation (DMS)
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • The dense medium
    • Centrifugal separators
    • DMS circuits
    • Typical dense medium separations
    • Laboratory heavy liquid tests
    • Efficiency of dense medium separation
    • Construction of partition curves
    • Organic efficiency
  • Chapter 12: Froth flotation
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Principles of flotation
    • Classification of minerals
    • Collectors
    • Frothers
    • Regulators
    • The importance of pH
    • The importance of pulp potential
    • The role of bubble generation and froth performance
    • Entrainment
    • The engineering of flotation
    • Electroflotation
    • Agglomeration-skin flotation
    • Flotation plant practice
    • Reagents and conditioning
    • Control of flotation plants
    • Typical flotation separations
    • Flotation of copper ores
    • Oxidised copper ores
  • Chapter 13: Magnetic and electrical separation
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Magnetic separation
  • Chapter 14: Ore sorting
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Electronic sorting principles
    • Examples
  • Chapter 15: Dewatering
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Sedimentation
    • Chemical formula
    • Filtration
    • Drying
  • Chapter 16: Tailings disposal
    • Publisher Summary
    • Introduction
    • Methods of disposal of tailings
  • Appendix I: Metallic ore minerals
  • Appendix II: Common non-metallic ores
  • Appendix III: Excel Spreadsheets for formulae in chapter 3
  • Index

Review quotes

“Mineral Processing Technology will continue to be a key reference book for mineral engineering professionals and a recommended textbook for mineral processing students.” —Mark S. Klima, Mineral Processing and Geo-Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University

Product details

About the author

BW

Barry A. Wills

Barry Will's career in mineral processing began in 1969, when he left Leeds University to work for 4-years in Zambia with Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd. On his return to the UK, he worked for a year as a senior development engineer with Johnson Matthey Ltd, before taking up the post of Senior Lecturer at the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, where he wrote the first edition of Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology. In 1988 he founded the Elsevier journal Minerals Engineering, and in 1999 he launched Minerals Engineering International (MEI) Online in order to provide a central source of information for minerals engineers around the world.

Affiliations and expertise
Senior Partner, MEI, Cornwall, UK

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