Powder Technology 224 (2012) 217222

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Powder Technology
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A correlation between Vickers Hardness indentation values and the Bond Work Index
for the grinding of brittle minerals
Malcolm Gent , Mario Menendez, Javier Torao, Susana Torno
Universidad de Oviedo, E.T.S.I.M.O. (School of Mines), Spain

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 5 September 2011
Received in revised form 19 December 2011
Accepted 25 February 2012
Available online 3 March 2012
Keywords:
Grinding
Bond Work Index
Microindentation
Vickers Hardness

a b s t r a c t
Comminution of materials is an energy intensive and inefcient process where predetermination of energy
consumption for the production of a mineral powder may require lengthy and costly testing. This investigation was conducted to asses an unanticipated correlation between Vickers Hardness (VH) values for crystalline minerals and their comminution energy requirements as expressed by the Bond Work Index (BWI).
Based on preliminary investigations, hardness values of crystalline minerals as measured by the VH test are
interpreted to be affected by their elasticity. A tentative mathematical relation with a high correlation between the VH of liberated, mono-crystalline minerals and their BWI is presented. This relation probably predicts the maximum comminution energy requirements as mineral products for grinding are usually
constituted by particles relatively free of extraneous planes of weakness.
The VH test is proposed as a potential, rapid alternative method for determination of BWI values for the
grinding of minerals. It may also potentially assist in the assessment of energy losses due to excessive grinding of mineral ores.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Considerable research has and continues to be conducted into the
prediction of mill power consumption or production rates for the
comminution of ores/rocks and minerals. Comminution of materials,
especially of mineral resources and products is reported to be energy
inefcient and requiring signicant capital investment. Much of the
published research that has been conducted has been oriented to
the modelling of energy consumption in fragmentation and methods
for the determination of the grinding energy requirements for comminution of specic materials.
There is a large demand for ground mineral powders in many industrial applications and manufacturing processes. This is especially
so in the case of producing ne to very ne mineral powders such
as llers for industrial applications where the associated high energy
consumption is a major cost factor in the production process and as
such requires the evaluation of the grindability of specic mineral
products. The selection of a mineral product to produce a powder is
frequently not dependant on a specic source or exact composition.
As such, there may be signicant differences in the grindability of
one mineral product relative to others that can constitute a critical
factor in the nal production cost of a powder. Despite this, methods
for the prediction of comminution power consumption for such

operations are probably the least developed of the methods for predicting comminution energy requirements.
Testing of a specic mineral or blend of minerals to determine
the required energy consumption for ne grinding is presently
based on lengthy laboratory sample or preliminary industrial scale
batch tests. Determination of specic grinding energy consumption
for the production of mineral powders from new mineral sources developed or when new mineral powder products are to be produced is
essential for determining operating costs. This is especially so in the
case of contract grinding operations where a contractor is not familiar
with the operational costs for the grinding of a mineral or when a
type of mineral product is available from different sources.
The results of investigations presented here were conducted with
the objective of ascertaining if an observed indication of a correlation
between the Vickers Hardness (VH) and the Bond Work Index (BWI)
could be a valid tool for predicting mineral BWI values. This possible
relation was originally observed during analysis of test results of
an investigation conducted by the authors including six mineral
abrasives (Table 1) of semi-equidimensional mineral particles to
evaluate the physical properties required of abrasives for waterjet
cutting (AWC) of ductile materials. The observed relation (Fig. 1) as
expressed in Eq. (1) was found to have a correlation factor (R 2) of
0.7436.
2

Corresponding author at: c/Independencia 13, Oviedo 33004, Spain. Tel.: + 34 985
10 42 37; fax: + 34 985 10 42 45.
E-mail address: gentmalcolm@uniovi.es (M. Gent).
0032-5910/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.powtec.2012.02.056

BWI 1E05VH 0:0549VH 87:649

where VH is expressed in kg/mm 2.

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M. Gent et al. / Powder Technology 224 (2012) 217222

Table 1
Composition and mechanical characteristics of mineral sands tested for abrasive waterjet cutting applications.
Test abrasive

Components
(% volume)

Vickers Hardness
(kg/mm2)

Vickers Hardness
St. Dev.

Bond Work Index

(kWh/t)

GMA 80 (mono-crystalline almandine garnet)

84% garnet
14% ilmenite
2% carbonates
43% hessonite garnet
21% grossular garnet
34% plagioclase
2% pyroxene
48% hessonite garnet
38% grossular garnet
13% plagioclase
63% hessonite garnet
16% grossular garnet
20% plagioclase
2% pyroxene
100% zircon
26% garnet
28% pyroxenes
11% amphiboles
10% serpentine
9% carbonates
6% staurolite
5% ilmenite
3% quartz
2% magnetite

2711 HV10

387 HV10

37.0

1799 HV10

616 HV10

32.6

2192 HV10

535 HV10

32.6

2130 HV10

851 HV10

34.0

2823 HV10
2090 HV10

897 HV10
546 HV10

39.5
27.7

TC-TU (mono-crystalline garnet and andradite)

TC-C1 (mono-crystalline garnet and andradite)

TC-K1 (poly and mono-crystalline garnet and andradite)

Zircon (mono-crystalline)
PRC#3 (a raw mono-crystalline beach sand)

On initial consideration it was originally thought improbable that

the VH should be indicative of the BWI of minerals. The work required
to generate a fracture in a material is directly proportional to its
Young's modulus or modulus of elasticity. The BWI relates power
consumption required in crushing and grinding operations to the
feed and product size distribution. It was originally developed assuming that the material being ground is non-ductile and is a measure of
its brittleness or impact strength and its elasticity. It can be considered a measure of a materials susceptibility to plastic deformation.
The power consumption for the grinding of materials based on the
BWI value is normally presented as Eq. (2).
W 10  BWI 


1=P 1=F

where W is the specic grinding energy in kWh/t, BWI the Bond

Work Index (kWh/t), P and F the 80% particle sizes of the product
and feed particles respectively (microns).
The measurement of the VH of a material is obtained by driving an
indentor under a predened load for a specied period of time in the
surface of the sample being tested and then measuring the area of the
indentation deformation formed. The deformation of the particle produces is supposedly due to ductile deformation resulting in the formation of an impression conforming to the shape of the indenter.
45
Zircon

BWI (kWh/t)

40

GMA 80

35

TC-K1
TC-TU

TC-C1

30
PRC#3

25
20
15
1500

1700

1900

2100

2300

2500

2700

2900

Vickers Hardness (kg/mm2)

Fig. 1. Relation between Bond Work Index and Vickers Hardness of mineral sands
tested.

2. Models for predicting comminution energy consumption

A number of different theories have been expounded on the energy required for the reduction in particle size of a material, none is universally applicable. The most widely accepted models as proposed by
Hukki [1] are those of Rittinger [2] for 10 m to 1 mm particles, Bond
[3,4] for 100 m to 50 mm particles and Kick [57] for particles
>10 mm. Of these, only the Bond's model has become widely established method of predicting the energy requirements for the comminution of materials. In many instances, such as in the ne grinding to
produce mineral llers, the Rittinger model would be more appropriate but there are very few values reported in the literature for different materials or minerals.
The BWI test was originally developed for the application in the determination of power requirements in dry and wet ball and rod mill
grinding of mineral ores based on extensive industrial tests. It is an
empirically determined relation to grinding energy consumption. Despite a number of reported deciencies including difculties in reproducing BWI values [8], it is the most universally used and is now
applied to (in some instances in a modied form) or is being investigated for a much wider range of mill types (e.g. stirred media mills,
planetary ball mills, vibrator mills, autogenous and semi-autogenous
mills, high pressure grinding mills, etcetera) and commodities ranging
from mineral ores to inorganic powders, to excavation blasting powder optimization and produced fragment size distribution (e.g.
[911]) and more recently to food stuffs (e.g. [1214]).
Determination of the BWI for a specic material [3,4] is a lengthy
procedure and subject to operator errors. The procedure requires the
use of a specic, dened ball mill and charge and assumes that the
material processed is not ductile. The assumption that a material
being ground is not ductile implies that there are no variations in material elasticity (i.e. that the Poisson's ratio is constant) can lead to a
certain degree of error. As particles become smaller energy requirements increase to the point that particles cannot be crushed. The
Bond model is extensively used for grinding materials b100 m but
in such instances the index tends to be abnormally low. This effect
can be corrected [15] for very ne grinding such as to 53 m if the
screenings of products produced during the Bond test procedure are
screened wet and then dried rather than screened dry as is the normal procedure.

M. Gent et al. / Powder Technology 224 (2012) 217222

The BWI test is extensively used factor in designing grinding processes and evaluating grinding conditions. A large number of BWI
values for the comminution of different ores are available but can
vary widely for the same type of ore and generally are not reported
for specic minerals. Berry and Bruce [16] have shown that the BWI
can be determined by grinding samples to evaluate using the same
power consumption as that of a reference sample and comparing
the initial and product grain sizes. This procedure requires that the
product sizes be similar. Other alternative, rapid methods to determine the BWI of materials [17,18] have also been proposed but
have not become well established procedures.
There are a number of other models used or promoted to assess
energy requirements for the industrial comminution of a material.
They include the: Bond Pendulum test [3]; Narayanan and Whitens
rebound pendulum test [19]; JKMRC-Drop Weight Crushing Test
[20]; Ultrafast load cell test [21]; Utah load cell work index [22];
Unconned compressive strength test [23]; Friability test and a powder crush test [24]. However, these are not particularly effective for
predicting energy consumption requirements for very ne grinding
and except for those of the Bond model, values for specic materials
are noticeably lacking in the literature.
3. Theoretical considerations
3.1. The comminution process
The results of studies reporting BWI values are almost invariably
for ores or rocks rather than to grinding of specic minerals. The resistance to comminution of rock or mineral particles depends on the
materials the presence of planes of weakness such as tectonic or thermally induced stresses and joints; and/or petrographic features such
as mineral foliation, minerals grain sizes, form of contacts between
grain boundaries; and/or mineralogical properties such as inclusions
within grains, cleavage plains and the crystal lattice properties. The
signicance of these features on the energy required to fragment a
particle usually varies with its original size, the size of the new particles to be produced and the nature of the materials present. It is reasonable to suppose that in most instances, the degree of energy
required to fragment particles along planes should increase progressively from 1) tectonic or thermally induced stresses, compression
or cooling joints to 2) mineral foliation and strong mineral cleavage
planes, 3) mineral grain boundaries, inclusions within grains and
weak cleavage plains and 4) through non-cleavage plane crystal
lattice structures (i.e. fragmentation of the atomic or molecular
structure).
The comminution of materials into small fragments consists of the
breakage of particles through contact with other particles and/or with
the grinding media, and/or a resistant surface, and/or with solid mill
walls. Modelling of this process is further complicated by the random
nature of the grinding process where any new surfaces generated are
from random impacting of the grinding media or device with a random selection of the particles of varying sizes. In addition, the force
and/or angle of impact relative to any particle plane of weakness
are also random. It is evident that as the size of particles is reduced,
the probability increases that the new particle surfaces produced
being derived from the fragmentation of crystal lattices. Since the
fragmentation of none ductile, mineral crystal lattices should in
general be the most energy intensive of the comminution process,
this should account at least in part for the observation of various authors of a the dependence of the BWI value on the product size (e.g.
[25,26]).
In the comminution of ores and rocks, their resistance to fragmentation in materials of the same composition can vary substantially
with the neness to which they must be ground, the extent or abundance of different types of planes of weakness, sizes of crystals of different types present, their presence or lack of strong cleavage planes.

219

Mineral products to be ground for industrial applications such as ller

requires that they are relatively pure and as such must be liberated
and separated from extraneous material in their initial production.
Mineral products for grinding should have undergone comminution
processes to facilitate their concentration and should be free of
most planes of weakness associated with ores. The preponderance
of the energy required for their comminution should be more directly
related to the properties of their crystal structure.
It has been shown [27] that the behaviour of materials in impact
grinding can be characterised by two parameters, a breakage parameter and the product of the particle size with the mass-specic
threshold energy for particle breakage. These values are usually determined by single particle milling tests. However, it has been
reported [28] that these terms can be expressed in the form of a brittleness index which they dene as the ratio of hardness to fracture
toughness. They show that these values can be determined by depth
sensing indentation and that these results can be used to estimate
milling performance.
3.2. Relation of the Bond Work Index to the Vickers Hardness
A review of the literature shows that studies relating mineral
hardness to required comminution energy for grinding of specic
minerals are limited and contradictory. None relates the VH values
to grindability or to the BWI. Kulu et al. [29] showed that in impact
grinding the grindability of mineral ores depend more on fracture
toughness and structural homogeneity than on hardness. However,
investigations using a circular uid energy mill [30] found that the
breakage distribution parameters show an orderly decrease with increasing hardness for materials with Moh's Hardness values >2.
Yamane and Mackenzie [31] have also shown that the VH is related
to the Young's modulus and the average single bond strength of glass.
However, considerable work has been reported relating particle
hardness to grinding or fracture toughness properties of ceramics,
glasses and thin lms. This has been conducted in the eld of tribology where a nano-indenter similar to that of the VH indenter is used.
Interest in the measurement of hardness and elastic modulus by
load and displacement sensing indentation techniques was initiated
by publications (e.g. [32]) in the 1970's, where it was shown that
both properties might be measured in one load and displacement
sensing indentation test. During withdrawal of this indenter, the
elastic portion of the displacement is reportedly recovered and the
impression that remains corresponds to the plastic deformation produced [e.g. 3336]. A large number of studies using this technique
and some also apply the measurement of crack lengths and abundances induced by the indenter to determine the fracture toughness
of materials [3538].
Most subsequent work has been related to the characterization of
ultra-thin lms but such a relation is also observed for the grinding of
pharmaceutical powders. It is reported [33] that a particles Young's
modulus could be determined by a depth sensing indentation method. Zugner et al. [34] reported that the grinding of both hard and elastic particles requires substantially more energy than soft and elastic
particles. They found in the case of impact fragmentation in jet milling that both hard, relatively none elastic particles and less hard but
substantially more elastic particles to be both more resistant to fragmentation and produce a wider range of fragment sizes. Based on
tests on several brittle materials Feng et al. [35] has shown that the
ratio of hardness to elastic modulus is sensitive to well-developed radial cracks and that the Vickers test results can be calibrated to nanoindentation results.
It is reported [28] that these terms can be expressed in the form of
a brittleness index which they dene as the ratio of hardness to fracture toughness. They show that these values can be determined by
depth sensing nano-indentation and that these results can be used
to estimate milling performance.

220

M. Gent et al. / Powder Technology 224 (2012) 217222

70

4. Procedure

Table 2
Compilation of maximum and minimum reported VH and BWI values of minerals.
Mineral/
sample

Minimum
reported
VH

Maximum
reported
VH

Minimum
reported
BWI kWh/t

Maximum
reported
BWI kWh/t

Flourite1
Zircon1
Almandine/pyrope garnet2,1
Cassiterite2
Chromite2
Corundum2
Feldspar2
Grossular garnet2
Hematite2
Ilmenite2
Kyanite2
Magnetite2
Quartz2
Rutile2

175
1991
1530
1239
1036
2500
730
1326
739
501
1020
440
1103
894

200
3319
2711
1467
2000
3000
850
1326
1114
752
1224
110
1260
1106

12.37
11.8
8.9
56.7
11.67
12.38
9.6
10.7
18.87
10.1
6.8
12.12

5.1
39.50
37
11.8
19.3
58.18
12.8
12.38
12.68
16.4
18.87
20.9
22.1
20.2

1
2

In-house data.
Published data.

BWI (kWh/t)

60

Of the original samples evaluated for AWC applications, only the

GMA 80 and Zircon samples were composed of a single monocrystalline mineral species. The remaining samples consisted of a
mixture of minerals. Sample PRC#3 is a beach sand with the grains
being essentially mono-crystalline. The three TC samples were produced from crushed rock and only the hessonite fraction is polycrystalline. The higher BWI and lower VH values of the TC-K1 sample
as compared to those of the TC-CI sample is attributed it having a 31%
greater poly-crystalline (compression resistant) content. To derive an
indicative measure of the VH values of the samples tested, sets of VH
values were obtained for each of the samples using suites of grains
imbedded and polished in an epoxy resin at a 10 kgf of force for
20 s. Due to a number of possible measurement errors a range of
values was observed. It is suggested that the actual VH of the zircon
sample is higher than reported here as determination of this value
was complicated by the small particle size and tendency for the highly rounded particles being tested to rotate within the supporting
epoxy matrix. VH values exceeding twice the calculated standard deviation for each sample were discarded prior to recalculating the average value. A minimum of at least twenty measurements with
values less than the initial twice the calculated standard deviation
were obtained for each sample.
Combined BWI and VH values published for specic, monomineral samples are extremely limited to none existent and since
the determination of the BWI values for a signicant suite of mineral
samples is impractical, additional in-house data for uorite and zircon
were supplemented with data from the large amount published in the
literature. The vast proportion of BWI values reported are for ores
which were discarded as constituting a blend of minerals in unknown
proportions. Only those reported values which based on their nomenclature appear to be of a single mineral type were compiled. Data for
samples described as or whose nomenclature implies them to be ores
or rocks (e.g. chromite ore, iron ore, limestone, quartzite, etcetera)
were ignored whereas those described as minerals were included.
Those values corresponding to a mineral but with highly anomalous
values such as corresponding to weathered or altered minerals were
also not included. The values for those minerals for which a range of
values was available are listed in Table 2.
The data presented in this table corresponds to minerals with a
particularly wide range of BWI and VH values. They include minerals
with strong crystal cleavages (e.g. corundum, feldspar and uorite)
and others with none to poorly developed crystal cleavages (e.g.
quartz and zircon). Analysis of the trends of both the maximum and
minimum VH and BWI sets of values for these minerals (Fig. 2)

50

Trend of minimum values

40
30
20

Trend of maximum values

10
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

VH (kg/mm2)
Fig. 2. Relation between trends of maximum and minimum reported Bond Work Index
and Vickers Hardness values of minerals.

suggests that there exists a signicant relation between these parameters. This relation of both maximum and minimum sets of values can
be described by Eqs. (3) and (4) which have correlation factors of
R2 = 0.7461 and R2 = 0.9061 respectively.
2

BWI 4E06VH 0:0038VH 14:142

BWI 1E05VH 0:0159VH 12:879:

These correlations between BWI and VH values indicate that there

is a denite but poorly dened physical relation between them. It is
suggested that the use of these maximum and minimum values is inadequate for dening the precise extent of this relationship but does
provide a basis for dening the extremes of BWI values that might be
anticipated based on a minerals VH value. It is suggested that Eqs. (3)
and (4) dene the approximate range in BWI values that might be anticipated for a VH value of a given material such as might be found in
the literature references.
Based on consideration of the reliability of the reported values
to represent specic minerals and on the tendency for clustering of
similar values where there was no basis for assessing whether or not
they are representative, a series of the most probably representative
VH and BWI values for specic minerals (Table 3) were chosen from
those listed in Table 2 based on the clustering of values. These
were combined with additional maximum values from the literature to
provide a more complete inll or spread of values and types of minerals.
Table 3
VH and BWI values selected as most probable to be representative of mineral species.
Mineral

VH

BWI kWh/t

Almandine garnet1
Almandine/pyrope2
Anorthite2
Barite2
Cassiterite2
Chromite2
Corundum2
Dolomite2
Feldspar2
Flourite1
Grossular garnet2
Hematite specular2
Hematite2
Ilmenite2
Kyanite2
Magnetite2
Quartz2
Rutile2
Zircon1

2711
2498
900
173
1171
1036
3000
365
850
200
1326
1114
926
626
1224
110
1260
974
2810

37
26.17
11.67
6.24
11.8
13.4
58.18
11.31
12.8
5.1
12.38
15.4
12.68
11.4
18.87
10.21
12.77
12.12
39.50

1
2

In-house data.
Published data.

M. Gent et al. / Powder Technology 224 (2012) 217222

221

5. Results

6. Discussion

As indicated in Fig. 3, the selected values indicate a strong correlation between VH and BWI as expressed in Eq. (5). These values include mineral types with a wide variety of physical characteristics
(e.g. soft and relatively ductile, soft and brittle, hard and brittle,
etc.). The data constitutes a very limited set of values but a high correlation (R 2 = 0.9111) is indicated.

The high degree of correlation between VH and BWI indicates that

a denite relation between VH and BWI values exists. As these results
were derived from data for only a few mineral products as described
in a number of different sources, the equations presented should be
only considered as indicative or an approximation of this relation. A
substantially larger controlled data sets are needed to conrm and rene the interpretations presented here.
Most mineral products that are processed by ne grinding consist
of minerals that have been liberated by fragmentation from other
minerals. The basis for the observed relation between VH and BWI
values is beyond the scope of this investigation but it is speculated
that minerals subjected to ne grinding are usually formed of individual crystal fragments (i.e. are mono-crystalline) and any further size
reduction implies fragmentation at an atomic or molecular level. It
is suspected that the VH test when applied to crystallised minerals
produces permanent elastic deformation at an atomic level. It is speculated that at least part of the observed relation may be due to attrition (fragmentation by shearing) which is an important factor in
many grinding processes and the deformation of the indenter used
in the VH test might in part be related to the shear modulus of materials tested.
Due care in the use of BWI values is recommended. The BWI is a
value used to predict energy consumption in comminution processes
(typically ball mills but it is also used a reference in a number of other
grinding processes). It does not represent the energy consumed solely
in the fragmentation of particles as only a small portion (frequently 1%) of the energy consumed in grinding is transferred to the
particles due to energy losses from heat generation, noise, friction,
deformation of grinding media, etcetera.
VH testing using automated testers is a particularly rapid method
to obtain statistically valid results. However, as with any test procedure it can be subject to errors and due precaution in its use is recommended. It is suggested that: calibration be conducted at the intervals
recommended by the manufacturer, a minimum of twenty reliable
VH values be determined per mineral (forty or more measurements
may be required for samples of mixed minerals or of particularly
ne particles e.g. b200 m); care be taken in preparing the samples
for testing as an inadequate epoxy substrate of the ne particle
sizes of mounted grains being tested may result in erroneously low
values.
It is recommended that if tests are conducted to investigate this
reported correlation between VH and BWI values, that minerals derived from alluvial sands may be the most suitable for such tests. Alluvial sands are a source for a wide variety of minerals and the
particles have undergone extensive fragmentation and attrition such
that virtually all are mono-crystalline, none crystallographic planes
of weakness are not present and the presence of inclusions is much
more limited as compared to those produced from other types of
deposits.

BWI 5E06VH 0:003VH 9:6937:

All of the halide carbonate and sulphate as well as most of the silicate minerals used for this investigation are characterised as having
cleavage planes. If only the oxide minerals (n = 8) are considered,
the Eq. (6) can be derived with a correlation factor (R 2) of 0.9636.
Without additional data with intermediate values this relation is dubious as it is dominated by the corundum values.
2

BWI 9E06VH 0:013VH 17:871:

Similar relations can be derived for the halide, carbonate and sulphate (n = 3) minerals (Eq. (7)) and the silicate (n = 8) minerals (Eq.
(8)) with correlation factors (R 2) of 0.9980 and 0.9413 respectively.
2

BWI 0:0004VH 0:1746VH 23:623

BWI 8E06VH 0:017VH 22:134:

Eq. (7) being based on only three sets of data, the expression of
the relation between VH and BWI for halide, carbonate and sulphate
minerals should be considered as being very tentative. This is especially so as both the VH and BWI values are the lowest of all the
suits of minerals considered and include such a wide variety of mineral groups. If this group is excluded from consideration, the range
in BWI values related to VH values can be expressed as in Eq. (9).
2

BWI 8:5E060:5E06VH 0:0150:002VH

20:00252:1315:

Eq. (9) appears valid for oxides and silicate minerals with a VH
greater than 1200. For VH values less than 1200, the range in BWI
values 5 as derived from Eq. (5) appears to be the most indicated
range. These equations will generate slightly larger BWI values than
from Eq. (6) but is considered more indicative of the variation in
values that might be anticipated for a given type of mineral.
70
60

7. Conclusions

BWI (kWh/t)

50
40
30
20
10
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

VH (kg/mm2)
Fig. 3. Relation between trends of Bond Work Index and Vickers Hardness values and
specic minerals.

Hardness values of crystalline minerals as measured by the VH test

are interpreted to be affected by their elasticity. There is a strong correlation between the VH of these minerals and the energy consumption for their comminution as expressed as related to BWI values. The
relation between such values as presented here are based on limited
data and should only be considered as a rst order approximation for
the prediction of the energy consumption required for comminution
of a mineral based on its VH.
Mineral species comminution energy requirements correspond to
the specic mineral chemistry and crystallographic properties. It is
suggested that the VH test constitutes a potential, rapid alternative
as an initial assessment of the probable BWI for the grinding of

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M. Gent et al. / Powder Technology 224 (2012) 217222

minerals. The precise basis for the observed relation between VH and
BWI values is uncertain but it is speculated that if the observed relation is developed, it may also form the basis for the eventual capacity
to calculate the energy requirements for the grinding of mineral
blends. It could also contribute towards understanding of energy consumption in mineral ore grinding and energy loss due to over grinding of ores.

References
[1] R.T. Hukki, Proposal for a solomnic settlement between the theories of von Rittinger,
Kick and Bond, Transactions AIME 223 (1962) 403408.
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