Grinding Circuit at Mouteh Gold Mine

This study was conducted in Mouteh grinding circuit. Mouteh gold processing plant is located in Esfahan province,center of Iran, close to Mouteh open pit mine. One of the main problems in this circuit is low efficiency grinding operation. In this study, first grinding circuit and its performance parameters are evaluated. Laboratory and corrected operating Bond work index subsequently were calculated to be 16.8 and 21.47 (kwh/t), respectively. Bond efficiency factor then estimated to be 78.24%. Low value of this index means that the grinding operation is inefficient. Finally, efficiency of hydrocyclones evaluated and its cut size was calculated to be 85 microns.