There are various equipment for separating lead and zinc from ores, which are usually used in the process of crushing, grinding, flotation, and other processes of ores. The following are some major equipment and their brief introductions:
1. Crushing Equipment
Crusher: It is used to crush the large pieces of ore mined into smaller particles for subsequent grinding and beneficiation. Common crushers include jaw crushers, cone crushers, etc.
2. Grinding Equipment
Ball Mill: As zinc ore ball mill, which is a kind of equipment used for grinding and fine grinding of ore. Through rotation and applying mechanical force, the ore and the grinding medium (such as steel balls) are ground together, making the ore gradually finer and reaching the particle size required for grinding. The ore powder treated in this way makes it easier to carry out subsequent flotation or smelting.
3. Flotation Equipment
Flotation Machine: Flotation is an important process for separating useful minerals and gangue minerals in lead and zinc ores. The flotation machine fills the slurry with air to form a large number of bubbles. The bubbles adhere to the surface of the mineral particles and float to the surface of the slurry to form a foam layer. The foam layer is then scraped out by the scraping mechanism to separate the minerals from the gangue. Common flotation machines include mechanical stirring flotation machines, aerated flotation machines, etc.
4. Gravity separation equipment
Jigs, spiral chutes, etc.: These devices use the density and particle size differences between mineral particles for sorting. In the jig, the material is layered according to density in the vertically rising water flow. The particles with high density (such as lead and zinc minerals) sink, and the particles with low density (such as gangue) rise with the water flow, thereby achieving separation. The spiral chute uses the centrifugal force and gravity generated by the material on the inclined spiral surface for sorting.
5. Other auxiliary equipment
Screening equipment: such as vibrating screens, used to screen the slurry after grinding, remove oversized particles, and ensure the smooth progress of the flotation process.
Conveying equipment: such as belt conveyors and elevators, used to transport ore from one place to another to achieve continuous operation of the production line.
6. Specific equipment
Lead-zinc ore separator: Separation equipment specially designed for lead-zinc ore, such as spiral classifiers, centrifugal concentrators, etc., can more effectively separate lead and zinc from ore.
