Int. J. Miner. Process.

72 (2003) 341 – 354

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijminpro

Mechanical activation in hydrometallurgy

P. Baláž *
Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Watsonova 45, 043 53 Košice, Slovakia
Received 16 October 2002; received in revised form 24 June 2003; accepted 1 July 2003

Abstract

The review paper deals with the results of the utilization of mechanical activation in hydrometallurgy. The definition of
mechanochemistry is given as well as physicochemical changes in mechanically activated minerals are described. The
enhancement of the leaching processes in hydrometallurgy is illustrated. The chemical and bacterial leaching of sulphide
minerals are given as examples. A brief description of the established technologies (LURGI-MITTERBERG, ACTIVOXk,
MELT) applying mechanical activation for metals extraction is given. In these processes, the introduction of mechanical
activation step into technological cycle significantly modifies the subsequent processing steps.
D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: mechanical activation; hydrometallurgy; sulphide

1. Introduction (Baláž, 2001). Takacs (2000) recently published a

‘‘Mechanochemistry is a branch of chemistry
which is concerned with chemical and physicochem-
ical transformations of substances in all states of
aggregation produced by the effect of mechanical
energy’’. This general definition has been formulated
by Heinicke (1984) and is widely accepted nowadays.
The term mechanochemistry was introduced by
Ostwald (1887) who was engaged in the systematiza-
tion of chemical sciences from the energetic point of
view. He understood mechanochemistry as a part of
physical chemistry like thermochemistry, electro-
chemistry or photochemistry.
However, the traces of this science with many
applications in hydrometallurgy go deep in the past
* Tel.: +421-95-6330790; fax: +421-55-6323402.
E-mail address: balaz@saske.sk (P. Baláž).
paper in which the tracks of mechanochemical treat-
ment of cinnabar HgS might be dated to Aristotle era.
Theophrastus of Efesus (371 – 286 BC), student of
Aristotle in his book ‘‘On stones or de lapidus’’
described the way of recovering mercury from cinna-
bar by mechanical treatment: the metal is obtained
from native cinnabar after rubbing in a brass mortar
with a brass pestle in the presence of vinegar. The
mechanochemical reduction followed probably the
reaction
HgS þ Cu ! Hg þ CuS ð1Þ
The term mechanical activation was introduced by
Smekal (1952) who regarded it as a process involv-
ing reaction ability of substance which remains
unchanged. Provided the activation brings about a
change in composition or structure, it is a mechano-
chemical reaction. In this case, mechanical activation

0301-7516/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0301-7516(03)00109-1
342 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354

in the number of particles and by generation of fresh,

Fig. 1. Types of mills for mechanical activation; A—ball mill, B—
planetary mill, C—vibratory mill, D—stirring ball mill (attritor),
E—pin mill, F—rolling mill (Boldyrev, 1986).
previously unexposed surface. The measurement of
specific area, particle size analysis and particle mor-
phology (Fig. 2) are among the most frequently
applied methods for quantitative analysis of mechan-
ically activated fines. Several different methods of
specific area measurement are applied. Fig. 3 demon-
strates the application of the adsorption surface area
(closely related to the size of applied adsorbed gas)
and granulometric surface area (calculated from par-
ticle size distribution) for describing the increase of
surface during mechanical activation of chalcopyrite
CuFeS2. Aggregation phenomena prevail for mechan-
ical activation lasting more than 2 h.
To appreciate the disordering in the bulk of min-
erals as an consequence of mechanical activation, the

precedes the reaction and has no effect during the

course of this reaction. Juhasz (1974) proposed that
processes under the influence of mechanical activa-
tion can be subdivided into primary and secondary
ones. The primary processes (e.g. increase of internal
and surface energy, increase of surface area, decrease
of the coherence energy of solids) generally increase
the reactivity the mineral. The secondary processes
(e.g. aggregation, adsorption, recrystallization) take
place spontaneously in activated systems and may
appear even during grinding or after grinding has
been completed. This multistep character of mechan-
ical activation was proved later (Molčanov et al.,
1988).
The multistage character of mechanical activation
requires the application of mills with different work-
ing regimes. In fact, there are various factors affecting
the operation of the grinding process in mechanical
activation (Baláž, 2000a,b) and different types of mills
are used (Fig. 1).

2. Physicochemical changes induced in minerals by

mechanical activation

The primary effect of mechanical activation is

comminution of mineral particles that results in
changes in a great number of physicochemical prop- Fig. 2. Scanning electron micrographs of chalcopyrite CuFeS2; 1—
erties of a particular system. This disintegration by before mechanical activation and 2—after mechanical activation:
high-energy grinding is accompanied by an increase formation of aggregates (Baláž, 2000a,b).
 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354
Fig. 3. Physicochemical changes in mechanically activated
chalcopyrite CuFeS2; tVM—grinding time, SG—granulometric sur-
face area, SA—adsorption surface area, D—size of primary particles
(Baláž, 1981).
method of X-ray diffractometry is frequently applied.
The diffraction line (002) of mechanically activated
MoS2 is shown in Fig. 4 for illustration. Different
parameters such as crystallinity X, amorphization A,
size of primary particles D and lattice deformation e
Fig. 4. Diffraction line (002) of molybdenite MoS2; EM—specific
energy of grinding (Gock, 1977).
343
can be calculated from the diffraction lines of me-
chanically activated minerals.
The disordering of surface layers of minerals
occurs during mechanical activation in the presence
of air oxygen (Brion, 1980; Godočı́ková et al.,
2002a,b). The photoelectron spectra of sphalerite
ZnS mechanically activated in a vibration mill are
given in Fig. 5. Sulphur is present at the surface of
nonactivated sample only in sulphidic form whereas
in activated sample the sulphate sulphur is also
present at the surface.
Among the physicochemical changes in minerals, a
mechanically stimulated phase transformations was
also identified (Gock, 1978; Avvakumov, 1979; Sen-
na, 1985; Baláž et al., 1988). The local high pressures
and temperatures at contact surface of mechanically
activated particles as well as the presence of volume
defects are responsible for the phase transformations.
The mechanical activation of hexagonal CdS phase
brings about the phase transformation into disordered
Fig. 5. S2p XPS spectrum of sphalerite ZnS, mechanical activation:
1 – 0 min, 2 – 7.5 min and 3 – 60 min (Baláž et al., 1992).
344 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354
Fig. 6. The degree of conversion, a for polymorphous trans-
formation CdS(hex) ! CdS(cub); tM—time of mechanical activa-
tion (Durose et al., 1985).
cubic CdS phase. The kinetics of this transformation
is given in Fig. 6.
3. Chemical leaching of mechanically activated
minerals
The traditional scheme of metals extraction from
minerals involves some processes of mechanical char-
acter ameliorating the accessibility of the valuable
component by the leaching agent. Leaching represents
the key stage in the extraction scheme and its course
may be affected by selection and choice of the method
of leaching and/or by convenient pretreatment of the
solid phase. Thermal and mechanical activation
belongs to the most important pretreatment methods
that influence mineral leachability.
The mechanical activation of minerals makes it
possible to reduce their decomposition temperature or
cause such a degree of disordering that the thermal
activation may be omitted entirely (Tkáčová, 1989).
As we have shown in the previous text, the complex
influence of surface and bulk properties of mineral
occurs.
Generally, the mechanical activation of mineral
leads to a positive influence on the leaching kinetics.
It has been documented by Zelikman et al. (1975) that
the breaking of bonds in the crystalline lattice of the
mineral brings about a decrease (DE*) in activation
energy and an increase in the rate of leaching
DE* ¼ E  E* ð2Þ
k* ¼ kexpðDE*=RT Þ ð3Þ
where E is the apparent activation energy of the
nondisordered mineral, E* the apparent activation
energy of the disordered mineral, k, R and T stand
for the rate constant of leaching for the nondisordered
mineral, preexponential factor, gas constant and reac-
tion temperature, respectively. k* is the rate constant
of leaching for the disordered mineral.
If E >E*, then exp(DE*/RT)>1 and thus it follows
from Eq. (3) that k*>k, i.e., the rate of leaching of a
disordered mineral is greater than that of an ordered
mineral.
It was Senna (1989) who analysed the effect of
physicochemical changes on the chemical leaching of
mechanically activated minerals. In order to solve the
traditional problem—whether surface area or structur-
al disordering is predominant for the reactivity—the
rate constant is divided by the proper surface area and
plot against the applied energy of activation (Fig. 7).
For example, if the rate constant of leaching divided
by the surface area remains constant with respect to
the applied energy, as shown in Fig. 7a, then the
measured surface area may be the effective surface
area and at the same time, the reaction is insensitive to
Fig. 7. The schematic diagrams representing the mutual dependence
of physicochemical characteristics and leachability of mechanically
activated solids; k—the rate constant of leaching, Si—surface area,
X—structural imperfections, E—specific energy of grinding (Senna,
1989), labels a – e see text.
 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354 345

structural changes. If, on the other hand, the value k/Si

decreases with applied energy, as shown in Fig. 7b,
then the chosen surface area is most likely not
appropriate to accept as the effective surface area.
In the third case where k/Si increases with increas-
ing applied energy, as shown in Fig. 7c, the surface
area Si may again be the effective surface area, with
the overlapping effect of structural imperfection, as a
result of mechanical activation. Alternatively, when
k/Si and X vary parallel to each other with E, as
shown in Fig. 7d, or the value k/Si is proportional to
X as shown in Fig. 7e, it seems more appropriate to
accept the chosen Si as an effective surface area.

3.1. Acid oxidizing leaching of chalcopyrite CuFeS2

and galena PbS

Hydrometallurgical treatment of CuFeS2 most fre-

quently takes place by oxidizing leaching (Habashi,
1978) with low-cost ferric sulphate frequently used,
which gives the possibility of regenerating the leach-
ing agent, e.g., by aeration. The reaction is governed
by the equation
Fig. 8. Structural sensitivity of reaction (4) for mechanically
activated chalcopyrite CuFeS2; ko—initial rate constant, S—specific
surface area, X—crystallinity degree (Baláž, 1981; Tkáčová and
Baláž, 1988).

CuFeS2 þ 2Fe2 ðSO4 Þ3 ! CuSO4 þ 5FeSO4 þ 2S

ð4Þ
The influence of conditions of the mechanical
activation on physicochemical changes in chalcopy-
rite and on kinetics of the reaction (4) was studied
(Baláž, 1981; Tkáčová and Baláž, 1988) in conformi-
ty with the complete plan of experiments 23 (Table 1).
The results in Table 1 and in Fig. 8 indicate the equal
influence of surface increase and structural disorder
on the reaction rate of CuFeS2 leaching and provide
evidence for the structural sensitivity of reaction (4).
Gock (1977, 1978) has analysed reaction (4) for
mechanically activated CuFeS2 and concluded that
 the first step is the dissolution of surface layers
formed by mechanochemical surface reaction,

Table 1
Complete plan of experiments 23
Experiment Mechanical activation Structural parameters Kinetics
no. Amplitude Revolutions Grinding S X S/X k0  10 4
of mill (mm) of mill (s 1) time (h) (m2 g 1) (%) (m2 g 1) (s 1)
1 2.4 13.2 0.5 2.09 87.10 2.40 3.71
2 2.4 18.5 0.5 3.69 80.97 4.56 7.14
3 4.4 13.2 0.5 3.21 84.29 3.81 6.97
4 4.4 18.5 0.5 4.14 67.50 6.13 8.63
5 2.4 13.2 2 3.19 77.35 4.12 6.03
6 2.4 18.5 2 3.51 59.00 5.95 11.63
7 4.4 13.2 2 3.59 52.51 6.84 9.18
8 4.4 18.5 2 5.29 46.42 11.40 15.72
346 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354

 the active sites, which are characterized by the

presence of h-CuFeS2 (CuFeS2  x), are leached
out in the following step.

Ferric chloride oxidative leaching of mechanically

activated CuFeS2 was studied by Maurice and Hawk
(1998, 1999). The increase of surface area was deter-
mined for both autogeneous grinding in a tumbling
mill and in a shaker mill but the resultant mineral
disordering was only determined for the shaker mill.
The leaching of galena PbS with ferric chloride
follows the equation
PbS þ FeCl3 ! PbCl2 þ 2FeCl2 þ S ð5Þ
The reaction produces elemental sulphur in solid
state which is a great merit of this process when
compared with the classical pyrometallurgical method
which forms gaseous SO2 (Kobayashi et al., 1990). Fig. 10. The influence of leaching time, tL on zinc recovery, eZn for
The leaching curves for galena mechanically acti- sphalerite; 1—mechanically activated ZnS for 60 min, 2—
mechanically activated ZnS for 60 min and annealed, 3—non-
vated for 5 and 10 min in a planetary mill as well as activated ZnS (Li et al., 1994).
for a nonactivated sample are presented in Fig. 9.

3.2. Acid nonoxidizing leaching of sphalerite ZnS
Among acid nonoxidizing leaching agents, HCl
and H2SO4 are frequently applied. The rate of leach-
ing is usually low, especially in the case of H2SO4.
Leaching of sphalerite by dilute H2SO4 is governed
by the equation
ZnS þ H2 SO4 ! ZnSO4 þ H2 S ð6Þ
Li et al. (1994) studied the reaction (6) for mechan-
ically activated mineral. The observed effect of parti-
cle size dimminution as well as solid-state disordering
led to the enhancement of zinc leaching rate. They
also performed experiments aimed at annealing
defects in sphalerite by heating the mineral at 500
jC in nitrogen atmosphere. The results of this were
decreased reactivity in comparison with the nonacti-
vated mineral (Fig. 10).

3.3. Alkaline leaching of tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13 with

silver content

The mechanically activated samples of silver bear-

ing tetrahedrite were subjected to thiourea leaching.
Thiourea CS(NH2)2 as an attractive alternative for cya-
nidation stabilizes silver ions in solution as a complex

Agþ þ 3CSðNH2 Þ2 ZAg½CSðNH2 Þ2

þ
Fig. 9. Lead recovery, ePb vs. time of leaching, tL for mechanically
activated PbS, time of mechanical activation: 1 – 0 min, 2 – 5 min
and 3 – 10 min (Baláž, 1996).
3 ð7Þ
The results of leaching are summarized in Figs. 11 and
12. The maximum recovery of 48% Ag was obtained
 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354 347

Fig. 12. Rate constant of silver leaching, k from tetrahedrite

Cu12Sb4S13 vs. surface/bulk disordering ratio, SA/(1  R); SA—
specific surface area, R—degree of disordering of tetrahedrite
structure (Baláž et al., 1996).

arsenic passed into solution with the copper. On the

Fig. 11. Silver recovery, eAg vs. leaching time, tL for tetrahedrite
Cu12Sb4S13 mechanically activated in planetary mill. Mechanical
activation: 1 – 2, 2 – 5, 3 – 10, 4 – 30, 5 – 15, 6 – 20, 7 – 60, 8 – 90 and
9 – 45 min (Baláž et al., 1996).
other hand, the leaching of enargite in alkaline sodium
sulphide solutions offers the possibility of selective
leaching

2Cu3 AsS4 þ 3Na2 S ! 3Cu2 S þ 2Na3 AsS4 ð8Þ

for a sample ground for 45 min and leached for 120
min. The silver recoveries obtained for ‘‘as received’’ because copper in the form of Cu2S is the solid
sample (without mechanical activation) were < 10% reaction product and arsenic is selectively extracted
Ag (Baláž et al., 1996). The plot in Fig. 12 shows that into solution. Mechanical activation has been applied
the extraction of silver from tetrahedrite is a structure- in order to enhance the rate of arsenic extraction
sensitive reaction. Simple proportionality expresses the (Baláž et al., 1999). The resulting recoveries are
equal influence of surface increase and volume disor- summarized in Table 2 and confirm the favourable
dering of tetrahedrite for the thiourea leaching of silver. influence of mechanical activation on the recovery of
An equal rate of leaching can be attained by mechanical arsenic into leach. Ninety-six percent recovery of As
activation either in an attritor (i.e. in a mill producing
larger surface and smaller disordering in bulk), or in a Table 2
planetary mill (where the disordering in bulk is great Recoveries of arsenic vs. leaching time, tL for enargite Cu3AsS4
and the formation of new surface is minor). tL As (%)
(min)
Nonactivated Mechanical
3.4. Alkaline leaching of enargite Cu3AsS4 sample activation (60 min)
5 34.08 91.02
Enargite belongs to a group of minerals with very 10 60.74 96.43
low extractability of copper. Both acid and ammonia 15 72.94 91.44
leaching were examined for copper extraction, how- 20 80.01 88.11
30 86.08 87.28
ever, these processes were not selective because the
348 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354
is obtained for a leaching time of 10 min by using
mechanically activated sample. On the other hand, the
value obtained for as-received sample is only 61% As.
4. Influence of mechanical activation on bacterial
leaching
Bacterial leaching is based on processes that occur
at atmospheric pressure and low temperatures. The
leaching medium is primarily composed of diluted
H2SO4 and iron in both ferric and ferrous forms. The
microorganism, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans (TF), the
most frequently studied with respect to biohydrome-
tallurgical treatment of sulfide-bearing minerals is a
motile, nonsporeforming, gram-negative, rod-shaped
bacterium. This bacterium oxidized virtually all
known metal sulphides to sulphate and elemental
sulphur to sulphuric acid
TF
MeS þ 2O2 ! MeSO4
Furthermore, it oxidized ferrous to ferric ion
TF
4FeSO4 þ 2H2 SO4 þ O2 ! 2Fe2 ðSO4 Þ3 þ 2H2 O
ð10Þ
One of the drawbacks of the application of bacteria
is the time of leaching which is typically days as
Fig. 13. Variation of iron concentration, CFe with time of bacterial leaching, tBL for pyrite FeS2, mechanical activation: 1 – 7.5, 2 – 15 and 3 – 30
min (Baláž et al., 1991).
opposed to minutes or hours for chemical leaching.
Mechanical activation may give an increase in the rate
of leaching due to an increase in the surface area
where the attachment of bacteria can occur and by
disordering the mineral structure resulting in an over-
all increase in reactivity.
The process of bacterial leaching of mechanically
activated pyrite has been studied by Baláž et al.
(1991). The plot in Fig. 13 shows the dependance of
iron concentration on the time of bacterial leaching for
FeS2 mechanically activated for different times. From
these plots, it is clear that the bacterial decomposition
of pyrite is accelerated by the influence of mechanical
activation. By processing of curves in Fig. 13, the
value tinf can be calculated which represents the time
of bacterial leaching where the rate is maximum. The
maximum rate of bacterial leaching increases with
mechanical activation and surface area and the values
of tinf shift to lower values (Fig. 14).
The structural disorder of pyrite increases with time
ð9Þ of mechanical activation. In addition to an increase in
overall surface, new boundaries and cracks, accompa-
nied by the formation of lattice defects and imperfec-
tions of a submicroscopic scale, come into existence.
From the energetic point of view, a sufficient supply of
sulphur on these sites (supported by increased diffu-
sivities), produces an increased metabolic activity of
bacteria which manifests itself by pitting on the surface
 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354
Fig. 14. Dependance of the maximum rate of iron leaching, vmax (A)
and the inflex point, tinf (B) on the surface area SA for bacterial
leaching of mechanically activated pyrite FeS2 (Baláž et al., 1991).
of pyrite. Such explanation can be used for the samples
mechanically activated for up 30 min, where the rate of
bacterial leaching increases with grinding time (Fig.
14). At longer activation times, the favourable effect of
defects is suppressed by the formation of agglomerates
Fig. 15. Flow sheet of the LURGI-MITTERBERG process (Biangardi and Pietsch, 1975).
349
of pyrite with the consequent, lower accessibility of
surface defect sites for the bacteria. For this reason, the
metabolic activity of bacteria is decreased and this
manifests itself as a decreased rate of leaching.
5. Mechanical activation in hydrometallurgical
technology
Mechanical activation is an innovative procedure
where an improvement in hydrometallurgical process-
es can be attained via a combination of new surface
area and formation of crystalline disorder in minerals.
The lowering of reaction temperatures, the increase of
rate and amount of solubility, preparation of water-
soluble compounds, the necessity for simpler and less
expensive reactors and shorter reaction times are some
of the advantages of mechanical activation (Tkáčová,
1989). Together with the environmental aspects of
these processes mechanical activation can be an
attractive subject for hydrometallurgical technology
(Baláž, 2000a).
The method of mechanical activation has been
tested for many ore concentrates in order to develop
the proper technological flow sheet. Sulphide concen-
trates with Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Mo, As, Au and Re
content were tested in order to utilize the advantage of
mechanical activation (Gerlach et al., 1973; Pawlek,
1976; Gock, 1977; Aytekin, 1981; Gerlach, 1982;
350 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354

Daiger and Gerlach, 1982, 1983; Gock and Asiam,
1988; Kammel et al., 1987; Baláž et al., 1988, 1998,
2000; Küzeci et al., 1989; Pawlek et al., 1989; Tká-
čová et al., 1993; Kušnierová et al., 1993; Amer, 1994,
1995; Kähler et al., 1996; Welham, 1997a,b,
2001a,b,c,d,e; Ficeriová, 2000; Godočı́ková, 2001;
Godočı́ková et al., 2002a,b; Ficeriová et al., 2002;
Mulak et al., 2002).
The verification of the effect of mechanical acti-
vation has been applied also for the concentrates of
rutile (Gock and Jacob, 1980), ilmenite (Welham,
1997a,b), volframite (Amer, 2000), zircon (Welham,
2001a,b,c,d,e), cassiterite (Amer, 2001) and tantalite/
columbite (Welham, 2001a,b,c,d,e).
A few of the activities have been tested on indus-
trial scale and brief outlines of these processes are
given below.
calcines. A typical flow sheet is shown in Fig. 16. The
process combines two-unit operation—ultrafine grind-
ing and pressure oxidation under mild conditions. The
mechanical activation proceeds in the first operation.
In the second operation, diluted slurry from the mill
flows to the autoclave where pressure oxidation pro-
ceeds. Typical examples are the application to recov-
ery of Ni from pentlandite concentrate, Cu from
chalcopyrite concentrates and Au from refractory gold
ore concentrates. Recently, a unique combination of
the ACTIVOXk leaching and well-established sol-
vent extraction—electrowinning unit operations was
developed. This process was extensively tested and

5.1. LURGI-MITTERBERG process

According to the proposes of the process, the

leachability of copper from chalcopyrite concentrate
can be improved by mechanical activation of the
concentrate in a vibration mill. If the performance of
the mill is sufficient, a complete extraction of the
copper can be achieved in single step at temperatures
below the melting point of sulphur. The flow sheet of
the process is represented in Fig. 15.
The product obtained after grinding the concentrate
is mixed with the recycled electrolyte from the extrac-
tion of copper. The electrolysis proceeded at pressures
of 1 –2 MPa and residence time of 2 h, the efficiency
being 0.6 t m 3 for 24 h. The partially dissolved iron is
precipitated in the autoclave together with As, Sb, Bi
and other contaminants and remains in the solid
residue. The process was in operation in 1974 –1976,
the capacity was 1 t of cathode copper daily. The whole
plant in Mitterberg (Austria) was closed because of
high operational costs with the concentrate transport
and high power consumption.

5.2. ACTIVOXk process

The process was developed in Australia as an

alternative to the pretreatments of sulphidic concen-
trates by roasting and bacterial oxidation (Corrans and
Angove, 1991). It has been applied to the recovery of Fig. 16. Flowsheet of the ACTIVOXk process (Corrans and
nonferrous and precious metals from concentrates and Angove, 1991).
 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354 351

proved on a continuous basis in a full integrated plant
(Baláž, 2000a,b).
5.3. MELT process
Alkaline sodium sulphide leaching of tetrahedrite
(Cu12Sb4S13) concentrates dissolves selectively anti-
mony leaving copper and iron in the solid residue.
The leaching has a high selectivity and together with
copper sulphide also precious metals remain in the
solid residue which is by composition suitable feed for
a smelter treatment. The concept of mechanochemical
leaching of tetrahedrites (process MELT) developed in
laboratory and semi-industrial attrition mills (Baláž et
al., 1994, 1995; Achimovičová, 1998) was further
tested in pilot plant unit in Slovakia (Baláž et al.,
1997; Sekula et al., 1998). Flow sheet is given in Fig.
17 and consists of primary mechanochemical leaching
and the subsequent operations for production of Cu –
Ag –Au concentrate, Hg (As) cementation solid, anti-
mony electrowinning and/or Na[Sb(OH)6] synthesis
as well as the by products processing. The pilot plant
operation was designed for 500 kg per day feed of
tetrahedrite concentrate.

Fig. 17. Flow sheet of the MELT process (Sekula et al., 1998).
352 P. Baláž / Int. J. Miner. Process. 72 (2003) 341–354
6. Conclusions
The data presented in the review paper show that
hydrometallurgy, aimed at wet production of metals
from sulphidic ores, is an area suitable for successful
verification of the knowledge accumulated by me-
chanical activation of minerals. Physicochemical
changes in minerals, their chemical and bacterial
leaching are given as examples. Several commercially
processes are examined and their flow sheets are
presented. In these processes, the introduction of a
mechanical activation step into technological cycle
significantly modifies the subsequent operations.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Deutscher Akade-
mische Austauschdienst (DAAD) and Prof. Dr.-Ing.
habil. E. Gock for the support during his stay at the
Technical University Clausthal. The help of Dr. E.
Godočı́ková by preparation of the manuscript is
appreciated. The research activities were kindly
supported by the Slovak Grant Agency for Science
(Grant 2/2103/22).
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