Energy conservation and integrated waterjet mining and milling

High-pressure waterjets have achieved a wide range of application in a large variety of industrial fields over the last thirty years. Several studies have shown that high-pressure waterjets are able to disintegrate mineral-bearing ores into small size fractions at the mining face, liberating the various constituent grains, and enabling an initial separation of the valuable commercial application of this technology at the working faces of min, despite the fact that the mining industry was the earliest user of waterjet technology (known as hydraulicking). This thesis summarizes the achievements obtained in applying this concept for high-pressure waterjets and provides the results of a series of experiments conducted with samples of sandstone with nodules of hematite, samples of dolomite, and samples of galena in dolomite. A regression analysis was also conducted to show which parameters are significant in the rock cutting and disintegration process. In addition, an experimental protocol for rock cutting and disintegration has been developed from this current study to test any type of ore --Abstract, page iii