INTRODUCTION

Mechanical activation of solid substances is one of the component of the modern scientific
discipline of mechanochemistry. At present, mechanochemistry appears to be a science with a
sound theoretical foundation which exhibits a wide range of potential application. Amongst
the commercially operating processes: modification of the properties of building materials, a
new method of fertilizer production, activity enhancement and regeneration of catalysts, new
methods of producing slow-dispensing medical drugs, control of reactions in chemical
technology and preparation of advanced materials.
Mechanical activation is of exceptional importance in mineral dressing and extractive
metallurgy and this area forms the topic of this book and is the result of more than twenty
years of research and graduate teaching in the field.
The first chapter deals with the history of mechanochemistry, its theories and models and
describes the development of ideas in the field of mechanical activation of solids. The
equipment used for mechanical activation and their working regimes are also described.
The second chapter is devoted to selected modern identification methods (infrared
spectroscopy, photoelectron spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance, M6ssbauer
spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction) which are commonly used for the investigation of
mechanically activated solids. The principles, practical application and limitations of these
techniques are presented with examples drawn from the study of minerals.
All the currently available knowledge relating to physico-chemical properties of
mechanically activated minerals, i.e. particle disintegration, new surface formation,
aggregation and crystal structure disordering are summarized in the third chapter. The changes
in these physico-chemical properties are frequently observed to occur concomitantly, e.g.
there are relationship between new surface area formation and disordering of crystal structure
and between disordering and changes in the hyperfine structure of mechanically activated
minerals.
Polymorphous transformations in minerals induced by intensive grinding are the topic of
the fourth chapter.
Chapter five, six and seven are concerned with the central problem of the solid state
chemistry, i.e. the relationship between structure and reactivity of solids. This is examined for
thermal decomposition (chapter five), chemical leaching (chapter six) and bacterial leaching
(chapter seven) and verifies the stimulation and control of the elementary processes of
extractive metallurgy by means of mechanical activation of reacting components. The careful
choice of grinding conditions enables us to study the structural sensitivity of solid-gas or
solid-liquid reactions. The most important results from these chapters are:
9 enhancement of reductive decomposition and solid state exchange reactions, especially
from the view-point of wasteless and ecologically harmless processes in extractive
metallurgy,
9 new knowledge concerning chemical leaching of minerals containing gold and silver,
expecially from the view point of intensification of extraction of these metals and
9 the possibility of enhancing the rate of bacterial leaching of sulfides by activating the
minerals.

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 The closing chapter is concerned with technological aspects of the mechanical activation of
minerals. The effect of mechanical activation by intensive grinding is examined for flotation,
oxidative leaching of non-ferrous metals, gold and silver extraction, sorption of metals from
industrial liquors, etc. Some results deserve particular attention due to the achievement of
separation not previously achieved e.g. selective extraction of copper and zinc from CuPbZn
concentrates and the application of mechanochemical leaching of CuSb concentrates which is
heading for industrial exploitation in a new hydrometallurgical plant in Slovakia. Other
processes where mechanical activation plays a role, such as ACTIVOX TM, METPROTECH,
IRIGETMET and SUNSHINE, are described in this chapter as well.
This monograph is designed for researchers and operators in the areas of extraction
metallurgy, mineral processing, mineralogy, solid state chemistry and material science as well
as for university students of this orientation. It is hoped that this book will encourage
newcomers to the mechanochemistry to do useful research and discover novel applications in
this field.

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