Proportion of Energy Attributable to Comminution

Rock breakage, or comminution, represents a significant energy-intensive process in mining operations, with its precise energy consumption levels widely debated. This paper aims to provide a clearer quantification of the energy attributable to comminution, focusing on previous reports and their findings. A comprehensive review of historical data, including significant contributions from the US Department of Energy and Battelle Columbus Laboratories, reveals that the energy use patterns for size reduction and grinding consumables amount to a notable fraction of total electricity consumption in the US industry. The methodology involved scrutinizing specific energy requirements for key commodities such as gold, iron ore, and uranium, which vary considerably depending on the context of mining and processing. The results illustrate that gold mining requires the highest specific energy for comminution due to the low grades at which it is typically extracted, whereas iron ore and uranium present interesting anomalies in their energy requirements. By highlighting these discrepancies, this study aims to provide insights that could incentivize the mining industry to enhance the efficiency of their comminution operations.