Energy efficient comminution of lithium ores using novel lamella crusher: mineral liberation, breakage kinetics and microstructural analysis

This study compares the performance of the novel continuous compression lamella crusher (CCLC) with conventional jaw crushing for the pretreatment of three lithium ores: zinnwaldite (L1), lepidolite (L2), and petalite (L3), sourced from three different European deposits. The CCLC demonstrated superior performance, producing a coarser, non-rounded particle size distribution (PSD) and significantly reducing fines (<75 µm) compared to the jaw crusher. Microstructural analysis using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and mineral liberation analysis (MLA) reveals enhanced grain-boundary microcracking, resulting in consistently higher mineral liberation percentage area across fine fractions. Breakage rate analysis confirmed that both crushers produce material obeying first-order kinetics for size fractions ≥90/75 µm, with deviation observed in finer fractions, while the Bond work index ( BWI ) values remained independent of the crusher type used. Energy efficiency analysis, using the operational work index ( W op ) and size specific energy ( SSE 75 ) demonstrates a consistent reduction of the specific energy consumption for CCLC products relative to jaw crushed material. These results collectively show that the CCLC offers a superior pretreatment method, yielding products that not only provide better liberation for coarse particle enrichment but also require less energy upon subsequent milling compared to conventional jaw crushing.