2D simulation model of mineral particles yielded

by discriminatory size reduction

C. Guimar~aaes
*
, F. Dur~aao
Centro de Valorizac ~ aao de Recursos Minerais (CVRM), ISTTechnical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Received 29 April 2003; accepted 15 August 2003
Abstract
One of the fundamental problems in mineral processing is to predict how ores are comminuted and how minerals are distributed
in the particles. In this paper, image analysis and data processing techniques are applied to support the development, calibration and
validation of 2D simulation model of particles generation by size reduction, where minerals exhibit discriminatory behaviour. Based
on images of ore textures, a simulation model of fracture lines propagation was developed. A modication of Nelder and Mead
optimisation method was used to nd out the models parameter values that minimise an objective function dened as the squared
deviation between observed and simulated particle areal distributions taking into account the variation of the average grade of the
target mineral with particle size.
2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Grinding; Liberation; Modelling; Process optimisation; Simulation
1. Introduction
In nature, industrial minerals generally occur associ-
ated with other non-valuable minerals, in a multicom-
ponent ore. The separation between minerals requires a
prior stage of grinding in order to promote size reduc-
tion and, simultaneously to produce free particles (par-
ticles composed of a single mineral phase). In mineral
processing this last eect is known as liberation phe-
nomenon. Therefore two main consequences can be
assigned to the comminution process: size reduction
production of progressively ner particles; and mineral
liberationas grinding proceeds, more and more free
particles are produced, increasing the liberation between
mineral phases. As overgrinding leads to high energy
consumption and to losses of valuables in the produced
ultra ne particles and, on the other hand, undergrind-
ing compromises the eciency of ulterior concentration
processes, giving rise to insucient liberation, the suit-
able denition of the ore size reduction constitutes one
of the most crucial steps in mineral processing. For this
reason, important research work in this eld has been
developed over the last few decades trying to predict
either size distribution or mineral distribution of the
particles in the grinding products. It is possible to dis-
tinguish three dierent scientic approaches to the
conceptualisation of the comminutionliberation pro-
cess.
The rst approach was taken by authors as Gaudin
(1926), Wiegel and Li (1967), King (1979, 1982), Petruck
(1986), Meloy et al. (1987). They assume the description
of the comminution process decoupled in its conse-
quences: size reduction and mineral liberation without
considering their interaction. These authors admit that
size reduction can be described without considering
textural features of the ore and they state that the sub-
sequent liberation phenomenon is independent of the
operational parameters of the grinding equipment.
These assumptions constrain to the adoption of rather
simplifying hypotheses: on one hand it is stated that
particles of the same size oer the same resistance to
fragmentation, independently of their composition, and
on the other hand it is considered that comminution is a
random process, i.e., fractures have no preferential
surfaces for propagation. The proposed models are for
this reason restricted to only few applications.
Other authors, as Andrews and Mika (1975), Choi
et al. (1988), Peterson and Herbst (1985), Herbst et al.
(1988), Kimpel and Austin (1983), King (1990) and
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +351-2184-17-247; fax: +351-2184-17-
442.
E-mail address: pccacg@popsrv.ist.utl.pt (C. Guimar~aaes).
0892-6875/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2003.08.006
Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348
This article is also available online at:
www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng
Schneider (1995), trying to avoid the above-mentioned
simplications, propose an integrated and simultaneous
study of both phenomena where it is contemplated the
dierence of behaviour that particles exhibit in commi-
nution in function of their mineral composition. This
integrated approach tries to predict the joint particle size
and mineral content distribution. Rather ambitious, this
type of models requires the estimation of a great number
of parameters.
Finally Barbery and Leroux (1988), and Leroux
(1993) attempted to overcome the restrictions of the rst
approach and the complexity of the second one, pro-
posing an hybrid model that uses information available
from a liberation model to calibrate the size reduction
model in order to reduce the number of parameters to be
estimated.
The research developed here intends to contribute
to the prediction of size and mineral distributions in
particles generated by discriminatory size reduction. It
was supported by an intensive experimental work,
comprising batch ball mill grinding tests with dier-
ent milling times. Distinct techniques to characterize
particles populations, namely, size analysis using siev-
ing, laser beam, cyclosizer and microscopy (image
analysis) techniques and chemical analysis by X-ray
uorescence (XRF), atomic absorption and optical and
backscattering electrons (BSE) image analysis were ap-
plied.
The proposed model simulates the comminution
process by imposing a set of lines with random starting
points, over representative images of the ore texture.
Each of these lines propagates according to a rule re-
lated to the brittleness of the occurring minerals and
dependent on milling time. For this reason the texture of
the ore plays an important role on the size and mineral
grade distributions of the generated 2D particles. The
nal fracture pattern intends to represent the sections of
particles corresponding to a real milling product for a
specied milling time.
To estimate the relationship between milling time and
the number of line fractures a regression model based on
a neural network is proposed. An optimisation algo-
rithm based on a modication of the optimisation
method proposed by Nelder and Mead (1965), imple-
mented by Rowan (1990), allows for the calibration of
the model nding, between all possible parameters val-
ues, those that minimise the dierence between observed
areal distributions and estimated areal distributions.
Since experimental size distributions were determined
using distinct techniques, prior to the model calibration
and validation, a data conciliation step is performed.
Data processing allows for the conversion of 3D ex-
perimental size distributions into areal distributions.
The 3D experimental size distributions were converted
into 2D inferred distributions by using a model of
classication process and a direct stereological model.
2. Parameters of the particle generator model
The parameters of the particle generator model are:
1. Brittleness of the hardest mineral, B, a value be-
tween 0 and 1. The brittleness of the softer mineral
is arbitrarily set to 0.
2. Number of fracture lines, N
l
, to impose over the
image of ore texture.
As referred, one of the model parameters is the
brittleness of the occurring minerals and is repre-
sented by the probability of the line fracture to cross
each one of the mineral phases. For the softer mineral as
brittleness is 0 this probability was set to 1. This
means that the fracture propagation through the softer
mineral is always successful without any perturbation in
its direction.
For the harder mineral this parameter constitutes an
exploring attribute and is the support of the models
output diversity. When a fracture meets the hardest
mineral in its progression, a random number between 0
and 1 is generated. If this number is less than the
probability dened by the user to represent the brittle-
ness of this mineral, the line fracture is obliged to change
direction. For the new direction the test is performed
again. This process is repeated until the fracture reaches
the border of the image. The nal result of this proce-
dure is a set of lines dening regions or cells possibly
corresponding to the sections of real particles.
Another parameter of the model is the number of line
fractures, N
l
, to impose over the image of ore texture.
This number of line fractures is related to the energy or
time of comminution. To approximate this unknown
relationship, a regression model based on an articial
neural network, consisting of two layers, is proposed.
2.1. Relationship between milling time and number of line
fractures
In this research work, the unknown and likely non-
linear, relationship between milling time, t, and the
number of line fractures, N
l
, is approximated, in the
range of the experimental grinding times, by an articial
single inputsingle output neural network, consisting of
two layers of weights and logistic sigmoid transfer (ac-
tivation) functions in the hidden layer. The mathemati-
cal expression of the neural network, approximating the
relationship between t and N
l
, is given by:
N
l

h
4
1 exph
2
t h
1

h
3
1
where h
1
, h
2
, h
3
and h
4
are the network weights, which
are adjustable parameters.
Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of the two-layers
network with one logistic sigmoid activation function.
1340 C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348
The rst layer, hidden layer, contains a non-linear
transfer function, yu
1
1expu
, and the second one,
called output layer, includes a linear transfer function
yu u.
The range of the function yu
1
1expu
is 0; 1 for
any real value of its argument u.
It can be shown (Bishop, 1997) that any functional
continuous mapping from one input space to another
output space can be approximated arbitrarily well by
a two-layers neural network with a suciently large
number of logistic sigmoid transfer functions in the
hidden layer.
All mathematical models have a domain of validity
and the neural network, as a black-box type regression
model, is not an exception. Thus, the number of line
fractures predicted, by the regression model, must be
within an acceptable interval N
l min
; N
l max
:
N
l
min max
h
4
1 exph
2
t h
1

h
3

; N
l min

; N
l max

2
where N
l min
is 0, N
l max
is 23 times the largest number of
lines tested in the exploratory phase of the 2D particle
generator model.
The operators min and max, applied consecutively to
the output of the neural network, restrict the predicted
number of line fractures to a value between the limits of
the interval N
l min
; N
l max
.
Finally, the number of line fractures is obtained
converting N
l
to an integer number by considering the
greatest integer contained.
2.2. Objective function
The parameters of the 2D particle generator are the
brittleness parameter B and the network weights, h
1
to
h
4
. The input of the 2D particle generator model is a
representative image of ore texture, the milling times
and guessed values of the parameters. For the current
values of the parameters, dened by the user or com-
puted by an optimisation algorithm, the output of the
model are populations of simulated 2D particles, one
population for each milling time. The particle size dis-
tribution and the mean mineral grade by size class are
computed from each population of simulated particles.
The performance of the model is evaluated by com-
paring the simulated particle size distributions and the
mean mineral grade by size class with the corresponding
values obtained from measurements of polished sections
of the ground ore for the dierent milling times.
Optimal adjusted values of the parameters can be
obtained as the solution of the following bound con-
strained non-linear optimisation problem (non-linear
weighted least squares problem):
min JB; h

n
t
j1

nsc
i1
w
i
G
obs

//
i
; t
j
G
est

//
i
; t
j
jB; h
2

nt
j1

nsc
i1
p
i
F
obs
/
i
; t
j
F
est
/
i
; t
j
jB; h
2
s:t: 0 6B61
3
where JB; h is the objective function, a weighted sum of
the squared deviation between experimental and simu-
lated values; n
t
is the number of milling times; nsc is the
number of size classes; w
i
i 1; 2; . . . ; nsc are the
weighing factors of the deviation between the simulated
and the observed mean mineral grade by size class;
G
obs

//
i
; t
j
is the observed mean mineral grade by size
class of the particles for a milling time t
j
; G
est

//
i
; t
j
jB; h is
the simulated mean mineral grade by size class of the
particles for a milling time t
j
; p
i
i 1; 2; . . . ; nsc are the
weighing factors of the deviation between the simulated
and the observed cumulative fractions by area for the nsc
size classes; F
obs
/
i
; t
j
is the observed cumulative frac-
tion by area of particles ner than /
i
for a milling time t
j
;
F
est
/
i
; t
j
jB; h is the simulated cumulative fraction by
area of particles ner than /
i
for a milling time t
j
; h the
array of parameters h
1
, h
2
, h
3
and h
4
.
The above optimisation problem is equivalent to the
following one
min JB; h
min
0 6B61

nt
j1

nsc
i1
w
i
G
obs

//
i
; t
j

G
est

//
i
; t
j
jB; h
2
min
fhjBg

nt
j1

nsc
i1
p
i
F
obs
/
i
; t
j

F
est
/
i
; t
j
jB; h
2

4
Fig. 1. Single inputsingle output two-layers neural network.
C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348 1341
that is, the optimisation problem is structured as a two-
level problem. At the lower level, for the current value of
parameter B, subject to bound constraints, the following
problem is solved in the space of h parameters
min
fhjBg
JhjB

nt
j1

nsc
i1
p
i
F
obs
/
i
; t
j
F
est
/
i
; t
j
jh; B
2
5
At the upper level, for the current values of B and h
parameters, the term

nt
j1

nsc
i1
w
i
G
obs

//
i
; t
j
G
est

//
i
;
t
j
jB; h
2
is computed and thus the value of the overall
objective function JB; h. Then, the optimisation algo-
rithm of the upper level adjusts the parameter B which is
transmitted to the lower level. The optimisation problem
of the upper level, corresponding to the search of the
best value for the parameter B was solved using a simple
strategy of discretisation in the interval 0; 1, for ex-
ample, 0:1; 0:2; . . . ; 0:9.
In this phase of the work, the attention was mainly
directed to the optimisation problem of the lower level.
2.3. The nature of the objective function (of the lower
level)
The objective function of the lower level is a noisy
function. This noise is inherent to the probabilistic
character of the particles generator algorithmproba-
bilistic rules dene the generation and evolution of the
lines fracture process. The value of the objective func-
tion is subjected to an incertitude that interdicts the
reproduction of results for a given set of parameter
values due to the stochastic components of the model.
2.4. Optimisation algorithm (of the lower level)
Due to the characteristics of the objective function of
the lower level, the optimisation method must be a direct
method based on the values of the objective function. In
this work a modication of the Nelder and Mead
method proposed by Rowan was chosen. The Nelder
and Mead or Simplex optimisation method can be ex-
plained as follows:
In n-dimensional space a simplex is a convex polytope
with n 1 vertices, that can be represented by a triangle
in a two-dimensional space and by a tetrahedron in a 3D
referential. The NelderMead method consists on
moving the simplex in the n-dimensional domain of the
objective function changing its shape and size as it in-
volves the minimum of the objective function.
After initial simplex generation, one proceeds for
each iteration through the following fundamental
movements: the worst vertex x
h
(corresponding to the
highest value of the function to minimise) is reected
through the centroid dened by the other vertices, gen-
erating a new vertex x
r
. If this point x
r
is the best vertex
of the new simplex, a new expansion in the same direc-
tion is performed given rise to a point x
e
. If x
r
is neither
the best nor the worst point of the new simplex then it
will substitute the previous x
h
point. If x
r
is the worst
vertex, then it or x
h
is rejected, the simplex is contracted
and a new point x
c
is generated. If this new point is even
worse the simplex is contracted once again in all vertices
in direction to the best point.
As a criterion to end the search, Nelder and Mead
propose the iteration from which the standard deviation
of the functions values becomes less than a xed tol-
erance (tol):

1
n

n
i1
f
i


ff

< tol 6
where

ff
1
n 1

n
i0
f
i
7
3. Validation data
A 10 kg sample of an ore containing mainly pyrite
(Py) (60%) a non-valuable mineral, chalcopyrite (Cpy)
(35%), the target mineral and other non-valuable min-
erals (5%) was ground to prepare feed of a lab ball mill.
Fig. 2 shows a typical image of the ores texture before
comminution, where grains of pyrite (white) and other
non-valuable minerals (dark) are embedded by a matrix
of chalcopyrite. Batch ball mill tests were performed at
times of 8, 16 and 32 min. The obtained products of
grinding process were labelled as BMP8, BMP16 and
BMP 32 according to the grinding time.
3.1. Data acquisition
Fig. 3 shows the data acquisition diagram. Depend-
ing on size distribution, dierent size analysis techniques
Fig. 2. Image of ores texture.
1342 C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348
were applied to describe particle size distribution of the
mill products: sieving for particles +90 lm; laser rays
diraction and cyclosizing for the fraction )90 lm.
Fractions from the cyclosizer were analysed by X-ray
uorescence and atomic absorption to determine the
grade of Cu. Polished sections mounted with the re-
ferred fractions were also analysed by image analysis to
determine the Feret diameter, surface and mineral con-
tent, for each particle.
3.2. Data conciliation
A methodology for data conciliation allowed for con-
verting all the distinct size distributions, using dierent
Data Acquisition
Size Analysis Chemical Analysis
X Ray
Atomic Absorption
Modal Analysis
Image Analysis
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
Image Analysis
Sieving
Cyclosizer
192 m
Laser Diffraction
1 m
Fig. 3. Data acquisition diagram.
Validation
Classification Model
Stereological
Model
Data Processing
Observed size distribution
of cyclones products
Simulated size distribution
of cyclones products
Conciliation
Validation
Areal Distribution of
Feret Diameter
Simulated areal distribution
of polished sections
Observed areal distribution
of polished sections
3D
2D
Data Conciliation
Conciliation
Cyclosizing data Sieving data Granulometer data
Conciliation
Average
Conciliation
Harris Fitting
Conciliated size distributions Conciliated size distributions
Avearge size distributions
Modelled size distributions
Fig. 4. Conciliation and processing data procedures.
C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348 1343
types of diameters, in sieving diameter distributions. All
these distributions were adjusted by the Harris model:
F / 1 1 /=/
0

s
.
3.3. Data processing
As the proposed model generates 2D particles, it
becomes necessary to convert the observed particle size
distributions (3D) into 2D distributions, prior to cali-
bration and validation. For this purpose a stereological
model (Russ, 1986) was adopted. Fig. 4 shows the
conciliation and processing steps.
3.3.1. Stereological model
If N
Vj
is the number or proportion of spherical or
ellipsoidal particles by volume from size class /
j
the
number of sections per unit area, N
Aij
, whose size belong
to the size class i, (limits /
i1
and /
i
) generated by
sectioning particles of size /
j
, is:
N
Aij
p
ij
/
j
N
Vj
Kq 8
where p
ij
is the probability to generate sections with size
between /
i1
and /
i
, from sectioning particles with size
/
j
and Kq is a constant depending on the ratio q be-
tween the axes of the ellipsoid. So it is possible to cal-
culate areal size distributions generated by sectioning
3D particles if probabilities p
ij
are known. Those prob-
abilities can be assessed by:
p
ij
F
ij
F
i1j
9
where F
ij
represents the probability distribution function
dened for spherical or ellipsoidal particles described by:
F
ij

1

1

//
i
/
j

2

;

//
i
6/
j
1;

//
i
> /
j

10
The transformation:
N
A1
N
A2
.
.
.
N
Ancg

11
p

12
: p

1n
0 p

22
: p

2n
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
0 : : p

nncg

N
V 1
N
V 2
.
.
.
N
Vncg

11
allows to convert a vector describing the number of
particles in volume into another vector whose elements
represent the number of sections per unit area and where
p

ij
represents the referred probabilities multiplied by
average size /
j
, p

ij
p
ij
/
j
.
3.3.2. Validation of the stereological model
The proposed stereological model assumes that par-
ticle shape is spherical or ellipsoidal. Dierent results
will be produced with other particle shape assumptions.
Areal size distributions of the polished sections were
used to validate the stereological model. However these
sections correspond to fractions obtained by cyclosizing
milling products. For this reason, to estimate cyclone
size distributions it was necessary to simulate this clas-
sication previously, adopting the expression proposed
to describe the corrected particle recovery curve of cy-
clones classiers:
1 2 3 4 5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Size Class
%
A
r
e
a
Cyclone1
Sim.
Obs.
1 2 3 4 5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Size Class
%
A
r
e
a
Cyclone 2
1 2 3 4 5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Size Class
%
A
r
e
a
Cyclone 3
1 2 3 4 5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Size Class
%
A
r
e
a
Cyclone 4
1 2 3 4 5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Size Class
%
A
r
e
a
Cyclone 5
Fig. 5. Observed versus simulated histograms for 8 min ball mill product.
1344 C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348
g
i
c

exp a

//
i
/
50c

1

exp a
/
i
/
50c

expa 2
12
where g
i
c
represents the corrected recovery number of
size class, /
i
, /
50c
the corrected cut diameter and a a
parameter related to separation eciency. In this study,
a 7 due to the high dilutions of the separations. On
the other and by the same reason, we admit that cor-
rected recovery curve and actual recovery curve are
coincident. Fig. 5 shows observed versus simulated his-
tograms of Feret diameter for 8 min ball mill product.
Other products have similar outputs conrming stere-
ological model validation.
Table 1 shows the results of the explained method-
ology together with the chalcopyrite (Cpy) grade. As can
be seen, for each mill product, there is an evident de-
creasing of Cpy grade values with the particle size. This
pattern is conrmed by the experimental data obtained
from chemical analyses (atomic absorption and X-rays
uorescence) of the cyclones productsner experi-
mental fractions obtained by cyclosizing are always ri-
cher in chalcopyrite. As tested, the dierential of specic
gravity between pyrite and chalcopyrite (0.5) alone
cannot explain this outcome. This eect must also be
assigned to the brittleness of the chalcopyrite and it
points at the occurrence of preferential comminution.
The target mineral seems to be more brittle than pyrite
and for this reason ner particles are produced from
chalcopyrite preferential breakage. This pattern be-
comes less evident as the milling time increases due to
the fact that proceeding on the comminution process the
less brittle pyrite particles will be reduced to ner frac-
tions.
4. Particles generator model
4.1. Model calibration
Model calibration was performed exploring the free
parameterthe brittleness of pyrite. The brittle-
ness of chalcopyrite was xed at 0. The diculty of the
line fracture progression is then exclusively explained by
the brittleness of pyrite.
After a preliminary study about the domain of vari-
ation of the brittleness, results pointed out brittle-
ness values between 0.70 and 0.95. Between these limits
it is possible to reproduce either areal size distributions
or the experimental pattern of average grade variation in
the dierent size classes. To calibrate the model 100 it-
erations were performed. Table 2 shows adjusted values
of the parameters h
1
, h
2
, h
3
and h
4
and the sum of
squares deviation (SSD) between observed and simu-
lated areal distributions values together with the number
of lines for the three mill products.
Fig. 6 shows the diagram of the model calibration.
For each milling time the input image is comminuted by
imposing fractures whose propagation obeys the above-
mentioned rules. The image of 2D generated particles is
Table 1
Mill products (BMP), Feret diameter areal distributions and Cpy grade
Size, /
F
(lm) BMP8 BMP16 BMP32
Area (%) Cpy (%) Area (%) Cpy (%) Area (%) Cpy (%)
8 19.49 54.05 29.26 48.15 32.25 45.84
12 7.31 47.13 9.20 41.19 12.35 39.09
16 6.50 40.91 7.83 35.14 10.52 33.30
24 11.04 34.50 12.59 30.43 16.17 29.37
32 9.13 31.06 9.78 28.45 11.20 27.89
90 34.66 27.04 29.23 27.00 17.40 27.00
128 7.64 27.00 2.09 27.00 0.00 n.a.
192 3.76 27.00 0.01 27.00 0.00 n.a.
Table 2
Adjusted parameter values and deviation (SSD) between observed and estimated areal distributions
Brittleness h
1
h
2
h
3
h
4
Number of lines SSD
BMP8 BMP16 BMP32
0.70 0.4172 4.4900 0.1468 2.2505 30 42 47 818.7
0.75 1.0078 6.2031 )0.7048 3.2234 33 47 50 706.4
0.80 0.2711 4.2951 0.0417 2.3272 27 40 46 593.6
0.85 0.5430 3.9841 0.0673 2.1568 28 38 44 438.0
0.90 0.6832 4.8552 )0.1072 2.1797 26 37 41 320.4
0.95 0.7618 5.4339 )0.3264 2.2217 23 34 37 249.9
C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348 1345
then analysed to obtain size and average grade variation
distributions. These two curves are compared with ex-
perimental ones and the objective function is calculated.
The optimisation algorithm actualises the values of the
2D generator particle input parameters and a new pat-
tern of fractures is generated. Optimisation stops when
the number of iterations is attained. The best set of
parameter values is the input for the simulation of a
specic comminuted product.
4.2. Simulation results
The set of optimal values of the parameters dened in the
previous step is the input to the model simulation. In this
Fig. 6. Calibration of the line fracture propagation algorithm.
Fig. 7. Observed and simulated size distributions and Cpy grade variation (brittleness 0.7).
1346 C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348
step it is only necessary to dene a number of simulations in
order to guarantee a population of particles large enough to
have statistical meaning. Figs. 79 show observed and
simulated results for dierent values of brittleness.
Fig. 8. Observed and simulated size distributions and Cpy grade variation (brittleness 0.8).
Fig. 9. Observed and simulated size distributions and Cpy grade variation (brittleness 0.9).
C. Guimar~aaes, F. Dur~aao / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 13391348 1347
5. Conclusions
Areal size distributions are well estimated. In spite of
the observed dierence between predicted and experi-
mental grade values, the pattern of grade variation is
quite similar. This type of particles generator model
seems to be quite promising to solve the problem of size
grade distributions prediction of sections of commin-
uted products. On the other hand, the generalisation to
other polycrystalline structures is also easy to imple-
ment. Model parameters can be related with operational
variables like milling time or energy consumption.
Future work, namely the introduction of an addi-
tional parameter as brittleness of the softer mineral,
will probably improve the results. The problem of ste-
reological inversion will also be considered.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the National Science
Foundation FCTFundac ~aao para a Ci^eencia e Tecno-
logiafor the nancial support of this research work in
the scope of the project FCT-34044.
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