Ball mill gpm

Mountaineer2020

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Jul 5, 2020
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Oregon
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Minelab gs3000
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Prospecting
Have a 3' diameter by 6' long ball mill and I'm having some trouble with the feeds for both material and water. Does anyone have a table that lays the numbers out? Feel like it needs quite a bit of water to get the slurry to move out of the mill. Probably only running with 14 gpm at the moment. Need to do some replumbing if I want to increase flow. And some welding, the scoop ripped part of the feed trough open.
 

It may help to show a picture of it BUT the three inch Diameter sounds like it may be a bit small. When I built these I used a 6 inch minimum Dia. to give my S.S. Ball Bearing's room to fling them hard against the barrel to help crush my cons.
 

It may help to show a picture of it BUT the three inch Diameter sounds like it may be a bit small. When I built these I used a 6 inch minimum Dia. to give my S.S. Ball Bearing's room to fling them hard against the barrel to help crush my cons.
My bad diameter is 3 feet and length is 6 feet. The balls are between baseball and softball size. Basically a big scoop in the center on one end that feeds ore and water. On the other is a 1/4" screen in the center to keep the balls in and the slurry is supposed to flow out from there. Trying to get the water and ore feed metered just right and feeling a bit overwhelmed. Took a snip from a video I have of it.
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My bad diameter is 3 feet and length is 6 feet. The balls are between baseball and softball size. Basically a big scoop in the center on one end that feeds ore and water. On the other is a 1/4" screen in the center to keep the balls in and the slurry is supposed to flow out from there. Trying to get the water and ore feed metered just right and feeling a bit overwhelmed. Took a snip from a video I have of it.
View attachment 2177412
I saw a chart a few years ago but can't find it now. Maybe was a U of Alaska or a Yukon mine research company study.
Do you have speed control? Your milling may be too slow to create a proper slurry. Idealy the rotation speed must be such that the balls are carried up the side then literally fall back down not just roll around on the bottom from what I remember.
Good luck.
 

Last edited:
I saw a chart a few years ago but can't find it now. Maybe was a U of Alaska or a Yukon mine research company study.
Do you have speed control? Your milling may be too slow to create a proper slurry. Idealy the rotation speed must be such that the balls are carried up the side then literally fall back down not just roll around on the bottom from what I remember.
Good luck.
Google "ball mill critical speed chart". There is a host of ball milling info to check out in those google results.

Good luck.
 

Google "ball mill critical speed chart". There is a host of ball milling info to check out in those google results.

Good luck.
Thanks! It's running at 29 rpm which is about the right range there. I'll check the charts out with that search term.
 

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