LAUSR

ABSTRACT The main target of this research was to provide the optimal size of mills’ feed with acceptable accuracy, in order to find the size range of particles to achieve the maximum grinding product. Nowadays, experimental semi-autogenous (SAG) mill and drop-weight test are used for evaluation of grinding circuit regarding changes in feed particle size distribution, size of the ball, speed of mill, prediction of energy required, and product size distribution for complete grinding in AG and SAG mills. In this study, the effect of initial size ranges of feed (+13.2–315 mm) on the amount of grinding product and its size distribution has been evaluated, in order to find the size range of particles to achieve the maximum grinding product. The results showed that the feed size range of 19–22.4 mm had the highest amount of grinding product and breakage index number in different energy levels and the validity of results was evaluated with ball drop-weight test, as well.