MT 221: 4.

0 Screening, Classification and Particle Size Analysis 2016

1. SCREENING

Screening or volumetric sizing is a method of sizing crushed or ground ore by shaking them on a suitable screening
surface. The material that passes through the apertures of a particular screen is known as the Undersize and the
material that remains on the screen is the Oversize. Screening is generally limited to the material above 250 µm in size;
finer sizing is normally undertaken by classification. This is due to decreased efficiency in fine screening, and that fine
screens are expensive, fragile and they tend to become easily blocked with retained particles. Screening can be done
either dry or wet, but never on damp material. The purposes of screening in the mineral processing industry are;

i. To prevent the entry of undersize into crushing machines, thereby increasing their capacity and efficiency.
ii. To prevent oversize material from passing to the next stage in closed-circuit fine crushing and grinding
operations.
iii. To prepare a closely sized feed to certain gravity concentration processes.

Types of Screens

Grizzlies

The grizzly is used for screening run-of-mine (ROM) ore before it goes into the primary crusher. Oversized material will
go into the primary crusher and undersize material will go to a secondary crusher or mill. Grizzlies consist of robust
parallel bars or chains. The spacing between bars or chains is equal to the product size of the primary crusher (300 mm
– 20 mm opening). It is inclined at 20 – 50 degrees and it has a capacity of up to 5000tph.

Trommel Screen

A trommel screen, also known as rotary screen, is an essential unit which is used mainly in the mineral and solid-waste
processing industries It consists of a perforated cylindrical drum which is normally elevated at an angle at the feed end.
Physical size separation is achieved as the feed material spirals down the rotating drum, where the undersized material
smaller than the screen apertures passes through the screen, while the oversized material exits at the other end of the
drum. The screen will segregate minuscule materials which are not in the suitable range of size to be used in the
crushing stage e.g. coal is softer and breaks much faster than shale, coal passes through apertures as undersize
meanwhile shale which is tougher is discharged

Figure 4.0: Trommel Screen

Trommel screens are cheaper to produce than vibrating screens. They are vibration free which causes less noise than
vibrating screens. Trommel screens are more mechanically robust than vibrating screens allowing it to last longer under
mechanical stress. However more material can be screened at once for a vibrating screen compared to a trommel
screen. This is because only one part of the screen area of the trommel screen is utilised during the screening process
whilst the entire screen is used for a vibrating screen. Trommel screens are also more susceptible to pegging and

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blinding, especially when different sized screen apertures are in series. Pegging is when material larger than the
aperture may become stuck or wedged into the apertures and then may be forced through which is undesirable. Blinding
is when wet material clump up and stick to the surface of the screen.

Sieve bends

The sieve bend is used wet and is effective for separating fine material. It is a curved array of horizontal bars. As the
slurry runs down the bend, layers of fines are striped off the slurry letting the fines flow through the grate and coarse
material to flow down the front of the grate

Vibrating Screens

The most important screen for mineral processing is the vibrating screen (amplitude and frequency). They are mainly
used in crushing circuits where they handle material from 250mm down to 5 mm. Vibrating screens are available in
multiple deck systems. A single deck normally produces an undersize product which bypasses the cone crusher and an
oversize product which is the crusher feed. Double or triple deck screens produce a number of different oversize
fractions which, may be directed to different crushing stages. The vibrating mechanism may be either mechanical or
electrical. The motion imparted on screen surface is often fairly complex, changing from the feed end to the discharge
end of the screen.

Importance of Vibrating Screens

i. Screen deck is vibrated to produce stratification of material. Finer particles pass through the bed and meet the
deck surface.
ii. Particles much smaller than the aperture size have a high probability of passing through on contact.
iii. For particles near the aperture size the probability of passing through on contact is lower. A greater number of
opportunities must be given to improve efficiency.
iv. The vibrations in the vibrating screens reduce the chance of pegging and blinding.

Types of Screen Motions

Figure 4.1: Screen Motions Figure 4.2: Screen Apertures

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Circular motion with inclined decks

 Typical inclination is 20°. Gravity assists with transportation. The stroke and direction of rotation will influence
screen performance.

Low angle linear motion screens.

 Typical inclination is 0-10 °. Motion is usually directed at 40- 45° to the screening surface. Larger throws
necessary because gravity alone cannot be used for transportation. Commonly used for fine sizing and washing.

Aperture Shapes and Open area (Ref. Figure 4.3)

 Screen open area is an important design parameter. Defined as the % of the screen surface that is aperture.
 Square apertures are most commonly used are offering accurate sizing, good wear life with reasonable open area
 Round apertures provide a strong deck surface, provide useful in heavy duty applications. Open area is lower,
deck is more prone to pegging.
 Rectangular decks increase the open area and can reduce pegging. Apertures with flow are suited to screening
regular shaped particles, but not flaky material. Apertures across flow are used where pegging is likely to occur.

Factors Affecting Screening Efficiency

 Rate of feed and layers of particles on screening surface:
 Angle of incidence of the feed:
 Efficiency of spread of feed over the screen area
 The moisture content of the screen feed:
 The shape of the particles and shape of screen opening
 Length and width of the screen surface;
 Kinetic energy of particle approaching screen opening.
 Type of motion imparted to particle by vibration of the screens
 Opportunity for favourable stratification
 Percentage of "near-mesh" particles in the feed
 Percentage of screen area open
 "Blinding" of the screen apertures
 Wear and corrosion of the screen material

Wet Screening

This is where the material is presented to the screen as a pulp, is often done with fine material. The screening efficiency
is much greater with wet screening than with dry screening, for a given material. Fines are washed off the larger particles
and the movement of the particles over the screen and the passage of undersize through the screen are much
smoother. There is no dust problem with wet screening. However, if the final product is required to be dry material the
cost of slurrying the feed and dewatering and drying the products should outweigh the advantages of wet screening.

Bone-dry fines give off very much dust, which can result in significant dust losses and creates a health problem.
Crushing and screening plants normally have fine water sprays over conveyors and chutes to keep down the dust. Damp
fines are impossible to screen and the presence of damp fines causes a mass of material to stick together, blocking
conveyors, chutes, bins, feeders, crushers and screens. Several ores, in particular many open-pit ores, contain much
clay and other minerals, which make the ore very "sticky" when moist. Such clayey ores are very difficult to handle and

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the clay must be removed before the secondary crushing stage on washing screens. High-pressure water sprays are
used on these screens; the jets of water should be strong enough to disintegrate lumps of clay. Such washing screens
are usually trommel screens or vibrating screens. They are sometimes followed by dewatering screens to drain off
excess water.

Efficiency of Screening

The most logical method, which is also the most widely used method, is based upon the recovery of undersize. An
efficiency equation can be calculated from a mass balance across a screen as shown;
F tonnes/hr
(Feed)

O tonnes/hr
(Overflow)
U tonnes/hr
(Underflow)
Figure 4.3: Mass Balance on a screen

The efficiency is expressed as the weight of the undersize actually obtained, as a percentage of the weight of the true
undersize actually in the feed:

Uu u f  o
E x100%  x100%
Ff f u  o 
Where: f = percentage of true undersize in the feed
u = percentage of true undersize in the undersize
o = percentage of true undersize in the oversize

If we may assume that all the material in the undersize fraction is true undersize material, then u = 100 % and the
equation reduce to:
Uu 100 f  o 
E x100%  x100%
Ff f 100  o 
To determine the screening efficiency with this method, representative samples are taken of feed to the screen and of
the oversize and undersize fractions, and screen analyses are made to determine the percentage of undersize in feed
and products. This test should be repeated several times and similar results should be obtained each time. If the results
of the test differ appreciably each time, it is likely that the samples taken were not representative. The coarser the
material that is subjected to screen analysis, the larger the samples taken should be. Well-operated screens should have
efficiencies of 80-90 %, as obtained with this method, when screening above 5-6 mm. The efficiency of screening will be
lower in the finer size range and can be as low as 65-70 % at about 1-2 mm. Another method is based upon the
percentage of true undersize in the oversize fraction as:
E  100  o% Where: o = percentage of true undersize in the oversize.

With this method, a representative sample of the oversize product is weighed and screened. After a period of time, the
undersize obtained is removed and screening is continued. This is repeated until no further undersize is obtained. The
undersize fractions obtained are combined and weighed and the total weight of the undersize thus obtained is expressed
as a percentage of the weight of the total oversize sample.

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MT 221: 4.0 Screening, Classification and Particle Size Analysis 2016

2. CLASSIFICATION

Classification is a method of separating mixtures of minerals into two products on the basis of the velocity with which the
grains fall through a fluid medium. Particle size control in the grinding circuit is carried out by classifiers which sort
particles into two fractions - undersize and oversize. In mineral processing, this is usually water, and wet classification is
generally applied to mineral particles which are considered too fine to be sorted efficiently by screening.

General principles

When a solid particle falls freely in a vacuum, it is subject to constant acceleration and its velocity increases indefinitely,
being independent of size and density. Thus a lump of lead and a feather fall at exactly the same rate. In a viscous
medium, such as air or water, there is resistance to this movement and the value increases with velocity. When
equilibrium is attained between the gravitational and fluid resistances forces, the body reaches its terminal velocity and
thereafter falls at a uniform rate. The forces acting on a particle suspended in the pulp still depend on the particle size,
shape and specific gravity; as a result the principles of classification are important in mineral separations

Types of Classifiers

Hydraulic Classifiers

These are characterised by the use of water additional to that of the feed pulp, introduced so that its direction of flow
opposes that of the settling particles. They normally consist of a series of sorting columns through each of which a vertical
current of water is rising and particles are settling out. The rising currents are graded from a relatively high velocity in the
first sorting column, to a relatively low velocity in the last, so that a series of spigot products can be obtained, with the
coarser, denser particles in the first spigot and the fines in the latter spigots.

Horizontal current classifiers

Settling cones

These are the simplest form of classifier, in which there is little attempt to do more than solids/liquid separate i.e. they are
sometimes used as dewatering units in small-scale operations. The pulp is fed into the tank as a distributed stream at F,
with the spigot discharge ‘S’ initially closed. When the tank is full, overflow of water and slimes commences, and a bed of
settled sand builds up until it reaches the level shown. If the spigot valve is opened, sand discharge is maintained at a rate
equal to that of the input.

Mechanical classifiers

Several forms of classifier exist in which the material of lower settling velocity is carried away in a liquid overflow, and the
material of higher settling velocity is deposited on the bottom. The pulp feed is introduced into the inclined trough and
forms a settling pool in which particles of high falling velocity quickly fall to the bottom of the trough. Above this is a
quicksand zone where essentially hindered settling takes place and then a zone of essentially free settling material. The
settled sands are conveyed up the inclined rough by mechanical rakes or by a helical screw. The conveying mechanism
also serves to keep fine particles in suspension in the pool by gentle agitation and sands turn over by the raking action,
thus releasing entrained slimes and water, increasing the efficiency of the separation.

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Figure 4.4: Principle of the mechanical Clarifier

The rake classifier

The rake clarifier utilises rakes actuated by an eccentric motion, which causes them to dip into the settled material and to
move it up the incline for a short distance. The sorting of the feed particles into overflow and sand products is basically
dependent on the settling rate of the particles. Due to hindering, the size of some of the particles and the agitation due to
the rake action, Stoke's Law is not directly applicable. However, the size, specific gravity, and shape of the particles will
determine whether they overflow and go on to the separation circuit or settle and be raked up for return to the ball mill.
The primary control variable for the rake classifier is the solid/liquid ratio in the classifier feed pulp. Dilution water is added
to the classifier feed to control the percent solids in the classifier overflow and which also controls the size of the particles
in the overflow product. Raising the weir increases volume of the classifier pool and allows a longer settling time for feed
particles.

Spiral classifiers

Spiral clarifiers use a continuously revolving spiral to move the sands up the slope. They can be operated at steeper
slopes than the rake classifier, in which the sands tend to slip back when the rakes are removed. Steeper slopes aid the
drainage of sands, giving a cleaner, drier product. Agitation in the pool is less than in the rake classifier which is important
in separations of very fine material. Increasing the feed rate increases the horizontal carrying velocity and thus increases
the size of particle leaving in the overflow.

Hydrocyclone

This is a continuously operating classifying device that utilises centrifugal force to accelerate the settling rate of particles.
Hydrocyclones are almost universally used in closed-circuit grinding operations and has proved extremely efficient at fine
separation sizes as a classifier. It has replaced mechanical classifiers in many applications, its advantages being high
capacity relative to its size and relative efficiency. They can also classify over a very wide range of sizes (typically 5-
500µm), smaller diameter units being used for finer classification.

Figure 4.5: Forces acting on an orbiting particle in the hydrocyclone

The classical theory of hydrocyclone action is that particles within the flow pattern are subjected to two opposing forces-
an outward centrifugal force and an inwardly acting drag. These forces are analogous to the vertically opposing forces
acting on a particle suspended in a still liquid for the calculating settling velocity. In the case of a classifying action, the

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opposing forces act horizontally and the centrifugal force is many times greater than the force of gravity. The centrifugal
force developed accelerates the settling rate of the particles thereby separating particles according to size, shape, and
specific gravity. Faster settling particles move to the wall of the cyclone where the velocity is lowest and migrate to the
apex opening. Due to the action of the drag force, the slower-settling particles move towards the zone of low pressure
along the axis and are carried upward through the vortex-finder to the overflow.

A typical hydrocyclone consists of a conically shaped vessel open at its apex or underflow, joined to a cylindrical section,
which has a tangential feed inlet. The pipe is extended into the body of the cyclone by a short, removable section known
as the Vortex Finder, which prevents short-circuiting of feed directly into the overflow. The feed is introduced under
pressure through the tangential entry which imparts a swirling motion to the pulp. This generates a vortex in the cyclone,
with a low-pressure zone along the vertical axis. The spiral path of particles has the coarser particles moving downward on
the outside and the finer particles in the centre spiraling in the same direction but moving upwards through the vortex
finder.

Figure 4.6: Hydrocyclone

The existence of an outer region of downward flow and an inner region of upward flow implies a position of a greater part
of the cyclone body at which there is no vertical velocity known as zero vertical velocity. Particles lying on the envelope of
zero velocity are acted upon by equal centrifugal and drag forces and have an equal chance of reporting either to the
underflow or overflow.

Factors Affecting Cyclone Operation:

1. Solid/ liquid ratio in the cyclone feed

If the solid/liquid ratio in the feed pulp was allowed to increase, the effect would be to increase the amount of
hindering encountered by the particles settling and thereby reduce their settling rate. This in turn would cause
particles, which previously were able to settle through the apex, to be carried over in the overflow and the overflow
product would become coarser. Similarly, the apex product would become coarser as only the most rapidly settling
particles would be able to settle through the thicker pulp. Conversely, a lowered solid/liquid ratio in the feed pulp
would cause both apex and overflow products to become finer. Additionally, the higher the % solids in feed the
coarser the cut size (higher D50) of the hydrocyclone and the lower the separation efficiency, as the drag force on
each particle is increased causing the particles to remain near the centre of the hydrocyclone and thereby reporting
to the overflow.

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2. Diameter of the apex opening

If the apex opening (spigot diameter) was increased, this will allow more fines and excess water to report to the
underflow. Hence the overflow becomes finer and the underflow more dilute. Smaller spigot diameters will increase
the pressure of the vortex and force more heavy coarse particles to the overflow. Too small a spigot diameter may
lead to a condition known as ‘roping’, as shown in figure 2.9 (c) where an extremely thick pulp stream of the same
diameter of the spigot is formed, and the air vortex may be lost and oversize material will discharge through the vortex
finder.

A B C

Figure 4.7: Hydrocyclone discharge modes

3. Diameter of the vortex finder opening

At a given operating pressure, an increase in the diameter of the vortex finder will result in a coarser cut point as more
feed material reports to the overflow. This will cause the overflow to become coarser. At the same time, the apex
product will decrease in amount and also become coarser. Reducing the size of the vortex finder opening will have
the opposite effects.

4. Cyclone Feed Pressure and Feed Rate.

This affects separation efficiency and water split i.e the higher the pressure the finer the separation and the lower
the water split. A steady pressure will indicate a constant feed flow rate because pressure increases with feed flow
rate.

5. Diameter of the feed inlet

The diameter of the feed inlet is fixed; therefore, increased cyclone feed rate also increases cyclone feed pressure.

Cyclone Efficiency

Cyclone efficiency is represented by a tromp, partition or performance curve as shown in Figure 2.8 below which relates
the weight fraction of each particle size that reports to the underflow stream. It is determined by the sharpness of
separation and the d50 value. The d50 value is the cut size of the cyclone; The cut size of the cyclone is defined as the
size for which 50% of the particles in the feed report to the underflow and 50% to overflow i.e. articles of this size have
an equal chance of going either with the overflow or underflow. The separating size of a cyclone gives an idea on the
particle size at which splitting in the cyclone is taking place. There are several ways in which the separating size of the
cyclone is defined but the most common definition is that size at which 50% of the particles report to the underflow and
50% report to the overflow. This is referred to as the d50 size.

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Many mathematical models of hydrocyclones include the term corrected d50 taken from the corrected partition curve as
shown in the Figure 2.8 below. The closer the real curve to the deal curve, the better the classification efficiency.

Figure 4.9: Typical partition curves for a hydrocyclone

The corrected curve describes particles recovered to the underflow by true classification. The corrected D50 value is
useful when comparing the performance of different cyclones for a particular application (Gupta and Yan, 2006). An
empirical equation permits calculation of the 50% particle diameter (d50) which is defined as the equilibrium particle size
at which centrifugal and frictional drag forces are so balanced that half of the particles of this size are discharged in the
underfiow and half in the overflow product.

d50 = 97 (Di.Do)0.68
Q0.53( -  )0.5

Where: Di = cyclone inlet diameter,

Do = vortex finder diameter (inches)
Q = cyclone feed rate (Imp. gal./min)
 = density of solids (grams/cc)
 = density of liquid (grams/cc)
d50 = 50% particle diameter (microns)

Analysis of the factors in the equation is worthwhile. Note that increases in the vortex finder opening (Do) increase the d50
size and therefore the coarseness of the overflow and underflow products. The less the centrifugal force, the greater must
be the mass of the particle to "settle" to the outside wall and discharge through the apex. Similarly, increases in the
cyclone feed rate (Q) increases the inlet pressure and velocity and also centrifugal force. This in turn causes the d 50 size
to decrease and the overflow to become finer.

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3. Particle Size Analysis

Size analysis is one of the most important and widely utilised laboratory test procedures. Due to the importance of size
analysis, it is essential that the methods employed are accurate and reliable, as important changes in plant operation
may be made based on the results of laboratory tests. Since only relatively small amounts of material are used in the
sizing tests it is essential that the sample is representative of the bulk material and the same care should be taken over
sampling for size analysis as for assay sampling.

3.1 Test Sieving

Test sieving is the most widely used method of particle size analysis (BS1377:pt. 2:1990 method 9.3 for dry sieve
analysis). It covers a very wide range of particle size with the -10 cm +10 𝜇m range being the one of the most industrial
importance. So common is test sieving as a method of size analysis that particles finer than about 75 microns are often
referred to as being in the “sub-sieve” range, although wet sieving (BS1377: pt.2:1990 method 9.2 for wet sieve analysis)
and/or microsieving methods allow sizing to be carried out down to 5 microns but with difficulty.

Test sieves are made from mild steel, brass or stainless steel and are commonly circular in shape with a diameter of 200
mm. Wire-cloth screens are woven to produce nominally uniform square apertures with required tolerances, but sieves
made of perforated plates with round or square holes are available, particularly at larger sizes. Micromesh sieves are
available down to a 5𝜇m aperture size. These are made by electro-plating nickel and have a closer tolerance than
woven wire sieves. The thickness of the wire used in woven screens and the size of the apertures have now been
standardised by international agreement. Until recently this type of sieve was designated by a mesh number- equivalent
to the number of wires (or apertures) per linear inch. It had the disadvantage that different wire thicknesses led to
different mesh numbers and aperture sizes. Sieve size is now generally designated by a metric system defined by the
size of an aperture in millimetres or microns.

3.2 Test procedure

Sieve analysis is one of the oldest methods of size analysis and is accomplished by passing a known weight of sample
material successively through finer sieves and weighing the amount collected on each sieve to determine the percentage
weight in each size fraction. Sieving may be undertaken using wet or dry materials, and the sieves used are usually
agitated to expose all the particles to the sieve openings. The range of sieves chosen is often easier with experience
and, ideally, should be such that approximately 5% of the material is retained on the coarsest sieve while approximately
5% passes the finest aperture. This is not always possible, particularly with fine material. Sieving is complicated when
applied to irregularly shaped particles, by the fact that a specific particle with a size near that of the nominal aperture
size of the test sieve may pass the apertures only when presented in a favourable position, the separation of these

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“near-size” particles is a gradual process, rarely reaching final completion. The sieving process can also be complicated
by irregularities in aperture size and possible „blinding‟, or obstruction of the sieve apertures by fine particles. After
appropriate agitation, typically 20 min for material at 45 microns or finer the stack or “nest” of sieves is split and each
fraction retained is brushed off and weighed. However, the agitation process should be continued until no significant
amounts of material pass through the sieves. Care is needed with the finer sieves (below 125 microns) as the meshes
are delicate!

The general procedures for test sieving are comprehensively covered in BS 1796 (Anon., 1989b). Machine sieving is
almost universally used, as hand sieving is long and tedious, and its accuracy and precision depends to a large extent
on the operator. Sieves can be procured in a range of diameters, depending on the particle size and mass of material to
be sieved. The sieves chosen for the test are arranged in a stack with the coarsest sieve on the top and the finest at the
bottom. A tight-fitting pan is placed below the bottom sieve to receive the final undersize, and a lid is placed on top of the
coarsest sieve to prevent escape of the sample. The material to be tested is placed in the uppermost, coarsest sieve,
and the stack is then placed in a sieve shaker which vibrates the material in a vertical plane, and on some models, a
horizontal plane. The duration of screening can be controlled by an automatic timer. During the shaking, the undersize
material falls through successive sieves until it is retained on a sieve having apertures which are slightly smaller than the
diameter of the articles. In this way the sample is separated into size fractions. After the required time, the stack is taken
apart and the amount of material retained on each sieve weighed. Wet sieving can be used on material already in form
of slurry, or it may be necessary for powders which form aggregates when dry-sieved.

3.3 Laboratory session

Equipment - Riffle box, appropriate 200mm diameter test sieves, lab scales accurate to 0.1g. and brush

Dry sieve analysis Procedure

1. Take a representative sub- sample from the bulk sample of 100-300g by means of a riffle box
2. Record the initial weight
3. Prepare a suitable sieve rack from coarse at the top to fine at the bottom. Attach the pan to the bottom of the
sieve rack. (e.g. 710 𝜇m, 500 𝜇m, 355 𝜇m, 250 𝜇m, 180 𝜇m, 125 𝜇m, 90 𝜇m, 63 𝜇m, 45 𝜇m sieves).
4. Transfer the representative sub-sample to the top sieve and cover and agitate on a sieving machine for 10-30
minutes.
5. Brush out the sieves one by one (note. Care is needed with the sieves below 125𝜇m) and record the weights of
each size fraction retained.
6. Tabulate the results to show cumulative % mass, based on the sum of the fractional weights. (n.b. A discrepancy
of more than 1% between the initial mass and the sum of the fractional masses, i.e. a loss of more than 1g / 100g)
constitutes an unacceptable experimental error.
7. Plot cumulative % undersize/passing against sieve aperture.

Presentation of results

The results of particle size analysis are most commonly tabulated. There are a number of standard methods of
displaying data; Table 2 shows the three most convenient methods (Wills, 2006).

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Sieve size Particle size Wt (g) Wt Nominal aperture Cum (%) Cum (%)
range (µm) (µm) (%) size (µm) Retained Passing
+250 0.02 0.1 250 0.1 99.9
-250 +180 212 1.32 2.9 180 3.0 97
-180 +125 150 4.23 9.5 125 12.5 87.5
-125 + 90 106 9.44 21.2 90 33.7 66.3
-90 + 63 75 13.10 29.4 63 63.1 36.9
-63 + 45 53 11.56 26.0 45 89.1 10.9
-45 4.87 10.9 100.0 0
44.54 100.0

1. The sieve size ranges used in the test.

2. The weight of material in each size range, e.g. 1.32 g of material passed through the 250µm sieve, but was
retained on the180 µm sieve: the material therefore is in the size range -250 to + 180 µm.
3. The weight of material in each size range expressed as a % of the total weight.
4. The nominal aperture sizes of the sieves used in the test.
5. The cumulative percentage of material passing through the sieves, e.g. 87.5% of the material is less than 125µm
in size.
6. The cumulative percentage of material retained on the sieves.

3.4 Graphical Presentation of results

The results of a sieving test should always be plotted graphically to enable information to be obtained at intermediate
size and percentages and permits any particular significance of size distribution to be seen. There are many different
ways of recording the results, the most common being that of plotting cumulative undersize (or oversize) against particle.
It is not necessary to plot both cumulative oversize and undersize curves as they are mirror images of each other.

The use of the semi-log plot spreads out the points at the finer end of the scale enabling much easier interpolation and
interpretation. The most useful aspect, from a mineral processing view point, is the mass percentage passing a given
particle size. This is often important in the monitoring of grinding circuits where, for either efficiency or energy
consumption reasons, it is important neither to undergrind nor overgrind. The “mesh of grind” of the system is usually
quoted as one point on the cumulative undersize curve - often the 80% passing size. A valuable quantity which can be
determined from such curves is the "median size of the sample. This refers to the mid-point in the size distribution -50%
of the particles are smaller than this size and 50% are larger. Special log-log graph paper exists and is sometimes useful
for plotting cumulative undersize curves where it tends to straighten out the characteristic curve to allow more reliable
extrapolation at either end.

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