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==stages== | |||
For the purpose of mineral extraction when ore is excavated from earth the size of run of-mine ore can vary a lot between fines powders to big boulders of 1.5 m across. Moreover the feed can also be intermittent type in the form of dumpers feeding the crushing plant. The crusher at this stage is called primary crusher the main purpose of which is to give continuous feed to the plant down the line in a size convenient for further handling in the process plant. In the next stage further crushing may be required so as to ensure proper releasing of mineral from gangue. The crusher in this stage is called | |||
secondary crusher. | |||
There can be also another stage of crushing called tertiary crushing depending on the initial size of the run of mine ore and the final product size requirement. Different stages are required as total size reduction in one single crusher is not possible efficiently. Moreover smaller sizes of material tend to jam the flow of ore in the crusher and unless there is sufficient space for the crushed ore to expand in volume there will be choking of the crusher. Hence vibrating screens are deployed in between different stages of the crushers so that only those oversize ore can be fed to the crusher whose sizes need to be reduced. This also helps in reducing the capacity requirement of the crusher as total run of mine ore need not be fed to the crusher. Also there will be closed circuit operation in case of secondary and tertiary crushers so as to avoid passing of any oversize material to the final stage. Primary crushing is done in open circuit only. | |||