Mineral processing is the process of separating valuable minerals from ore. Imagine you have a chocolate-chip cookie, that is your ore, and the chocolate chips represent your valuable minerals, and the cookie dough is the waste rock. Your job as a mineral processor is to figure out how to extract the chocolate chips in the most efficient manner. But it is not as simple as that. Mineral processors need to have a strong understanding of physics, mineralogy, and chemistry to find the optimal method to process the ore. When you first receive the ore from the haul trucks, you will need to reduce the size of the ore through a series of crushing and grinding stages. This is where physics and mineralogy come in. Afterward, the size-reduced ore will proceed to the recovery stage, where the valuable minerals will be separated from the ore, and usually, it is done based on their surface chemical properties.
As you gain more experience, you can even venture into different specialties such as process automation, developing nano drying technologies, or dive into electronics recycling. If you have a passion for physics and chemistry, and you like to design, analyze, and optimize processes, then you should consider a career in mineral processing!
Author: Kwan_Fung
