Development over thousands of years

Mineral materials have been processed for thousands of years. With such an old engineering science, you might not expect any major innovations ...? The first ores were found directly on the earth‘s surface. Increasing exploitation made it necessary to penetrate deeper layers of the earth, either in open-cast mining or in mines. Even in the deposits themselves, the ore content decreased and continues to decrease considerably in some cases, and state-of-the-art technology is required to exploit them economically. Starting on page 40, a new development in mechanical tank cells for concentrating ore grades is presented. The author Eric Bain Wasmund von Eriez estimates that „the perfection and commercialization of the two-stage device (two-stage flotation cell Stack-Cell™ ,Editor's note) can be of decisive importance for the mining industry“.

Fast ship loading in bulk terminals at ports also helps to increase efficiency in bulk material handling. For example, a U-conveyor can move tight curves and large mass flows. In contrast to truck transportation, for example, considerable amounts of CO₂ are also saved. Read our technical article „Adapting to ever-changing conditions“ by the Beumer Group from p. 44.

In this issue of AT MINERAL PROCESSING, you will find many other exciting, albeit sometimes minor, new developments and improvements that contribute to increasing efficiency in the bulk solids industry – enjoy browsing!

Dr. Petra Strunk

Editor-in-chief of AT MINERAL PROCESSING