The Mineral Sizing Journey from Pit to Port and its Influence on Fertiliser Products

The progressive reduction of particle size is a fundamental requirement for an efficient mining and processing operation. The selection and application of size reduction and screening technology will impact the economics of the business and directly influences fertiliser finished product quality.

The paper will give an overview of the fundamentals of size reduction, and the main technologies used. The application of specific principles relative to the processing of minerals for fertiliser products will be discussed.

The paper will describe the application of the technology from the underground operation through to a finished fertiliser product, for the production of potash and polyhalite based fertilisers. Case study references will be used from ICL operations in the UK (ICL Boulby) and in Spain (ICL IBP).