Author 1:
Name & Surname: Kuptsova A. V.
Company: RIVS Science and Production Association (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Work Position: Mineralogist
Contacts: e-mail: rivs@rivs.ru

Author 2:
Name & Surname: Mezentseva O. P.
Company: RIVS Science and Production Association (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Work Position: Mineralogist
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences

Author 3:
Name & Surname: Khramov A. N.
Company: Transbaikal State University (Chita, Russia)
Work Position: Assistant Professor
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Engineering Sciences

Efficiency of any technology in mineral beneficiation is mainly governed by two factors: level of dissociation of valued mineral components in feedstock and sophistication of dressing technology and equipment. Preparation of flotation feedstock includes estimation of optimality region of grinding process parameters, that is characterized by the maximum transition of commercial mineral to the difficult-to-process size category (slurry). This is the most topical in the analysis of grindability and dissociation property of complex ores that, aside from the multi-element composition of valuable minerals, feature nonuniform intergrowth of minerals, heterogeneous dissemination and various grain sizes. From experience, production laboratories select optimal final and intermediate size of a ground mineral based on actual production data. The optimality range for ore grinding parameters can be forecasted during processing of mineralogical analysis data obtained using advanced micro-imaging analysis systems. The mineralogical laboratory, RIVS, analyzed material constitution of Korbalikhinsky deposit complex ore. The mineralogical analysis used binocular microscope Leica MZ 16, microscope Olympus BX51 equipped with digital camera SIMAGIS 2P-3C and microscope Leica DM4500P with digital camera Leica DFC490. For the sake of statistical confidence, the analysis of the grinding product involved the dedicated automated image analysis program Mineral S7. As a result, based on a wide range of geometrical and morphological parameters, the data on mineral composition and grain-size composition of the studied ore samples were obtained: size of grains, mineral distribution in intergrown pieces, their qualitative/quantitative ratio, share of dissociated grains.

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