Grinding equipment serves as the core machinery in the mineral processing flow of the mining industry, used to crush ores into finer particle sizes to enhance mineral liberation and facilitate subsequent separation operations. Here are the common types of grinding equipment and their primary functions:

I. Common Grinding Equipment

1. Ball Mill
   1. Types: Classified by discharge method into overflow, grate, and peripheral discharge types; by cylinder shape into cylindrical, conical, and multi-edged types; and by length-to-diameter ratio into short-cylinder, long-cylinder, and tube mill types.
   2. Characteristics: The most widely applied, utilizing steel balls as grinding media. It crushes materials through impact and grinding caused by the rotation of the cylinder driving the steel balls.
   3. Applications: Suitable for grinding various ores, particularly in metal mines and non-metallic mineral grinding operations.
2. Rod Mill
   1. Types: Classified by discharge method into overflow, end-peripheral discharge, and mid-peripheral discharge types.
   2. Characteristics: Uses steel rods as grinding media, producing uniformly sized products with minimal over-grinding.
   3. Applications: Often used in gravity concentration plants to process brittle materials such as tungsten and tin ores, and can also serve as pre-treatment for ball mill feed.
3. Pebble Mill
   1. Characteristics: Grinds ores without steel media, relying instead on pebbles or hard rock fragments.
   2. Applications: Suitable for grinding specific ores, reducing steel consumption and grinding costs.
4. Autogenous Mill
   1. Characteristics: In a short cylinder, ores are crushed through self-impact and abrasion, with the ore serving as both the medium and the material. When a small amount of steel balls (2%-8%) is added, it is called a semi-autogenous mill.
   2. Applications: Features a high reduction ratio, simplifying the process flow, and is suitable for large-scale mineral processing plants.
5. Ultrafine Grinding Equipment
   1. Types: Includes centrifugal mills, vibratory mills, stirred mills, jet mills, jet pulverizers, classification mills, ultrafine grinders, colloid mills, Raymond mills, and ISA mills, among others.
   2. Characteristics: Capable of achieving ultrafine grinding of materials to meet specific process requirements.
   3. Applications: Suitable for ores and materials requiring ultrafine grinding, such as in coatings, food, chemicals, fillers, and colloids.

II. Primary Functions

1. Enhance Mineral Liberation: Through grinding operations, the connections between valuable minerals and gangue minerals in ores are broken, increasing mineral liberation and providing high-quality materials for subsequent separation operations.
2. Meet Requirements of Different Separation Equipment: Different separation equipment has varying requirements for particle size. Grinding equipment can adjust the reduction ratio and discharge particle size to meet the needs of different separation equipment.
3. Reduce Energy Consumption and Wear: Optimizing the grinding process and equipment selection can reduce energy consumption and wear during grinding operations, improving equipment lifespan and operational efficiency.
4. Achieve More Crushing and Less Grinding: By intensifying crushing operations and reducing the feed particle size for grinding, the efficiency of crushing and grinding can be improved, and mineral processing costs can be lowered. This is one of the fundamental principles to follow when designing a mineral processing plant.