Developments in materials for comminution

Consumable wear parts account for a substantial proportion of the total cost of any process which involves comminution. Estimations on a global scale of the cost of wear parts, run into hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The mining and benefication of metaliferous ores is the greatest consumer of wear parts, but considerable volumes are also used in coal mining, preparation and pulverisation for power generation; mineral extraction and processing; the production of cement- and lime-based products, and the quarrying industry. This article reviews several types of material encountered in comminution, and then highlights the progress being made in one specific group of materials - alloyed white cast irons.