Mineral Processing Department, Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russia:

T. N. Aleksandrova, Head of Department, Professor, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Aleksandrova_TN@pers.spmi.ru
N. V. Nikolaeva, Associate Professor, Candidate of Engineering Sciences
V. V. Kuznetsov, Post-Graduate Student

Due to the depletion of readily processible mineral reserves and to compensate for the growing shortage of high-quality minerals, the development strategy of the Russian mining industry has justified involvement of complex and unconventional deposits in operation. A distinctive feature of such raw materials is a complex mineralogical and geochemical composition, submicroscopic size grains, extremely heterogeneous textures and a variety of genetic processes of ore formation. All these raise costs and complicate flowcharts of both ore pretreatment and beneficiation already at the stage of design of a concentration plant. In order to optimize ore dressing cycles, it is proposed to use selective disintegration processes. This article presents the studies into applicability of selective mineral disintegration on the basis of in-depth analysis and identification of the relationships and mutual influence of mineralogical and geochemical features, textural and structural and technological properties of ores of the Bam deposit. The structural and textural peculiarities were studied by the methods of computer X-ray microtomography. The pore space analysis of ore samples reveals low porosity (0.35948 %), which implies the high strength of the rock. The microhardness tests at grain interfaces and in the monomineralization zones show that, depending on the point of measurement, it varies from 1256.31 N/mm² (in quartz zone) to 354.894 N/mm² (at interfaces). The destruction tests of Bam ore using different-type crushers find out that rock-forming minerals are concentrated in large classes; this is especially typical of impact crushers: up to 81.85% of siliceous minerals concentrate in the class –4+2 mm.
The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Grant No 20-55-12002 NNIO_a.

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