| Jaw Crusher | Primary crushing | Up to approximately 1,200 mm, depending on model | Coarse crushed material, commonly 50–300 mm | Hard rock, iron ore, copper ore, limestone, granite | Simple structure, high compression strength, reliable operation, and easy maintenance | Produces a less cubical product and may require secondary crushing | The best choice for the first crushing stage of hard and abrasive ore |
| Cone Crusher | Secondary, tertiary, or quaternary crushing | Generally below 300 mm, depending on chamber design | Fine crushed material, often below 25–50 mm | Iron ore, copper ore, gold ore, aggregate, and other hard rock | Good reduction ratio, consistent product size, and high wear resistance | Requires controlled feed and is less suitable for sticky or clay-rich material | The best option for producing uniform crushed ore after primary crushing |
| Impact Crusher | Secondary or tertiary crushing | Usually below 500 mm | Well-shaped product, commonly below 20–60 mm | Limestone, gypsum, phosphate rock, coal, and medium-hard ores | High reduction ratio and good particle shape for aggregate production | Blow bars can wear quickly when processing highly abrasive rock | The best choice for softer to medium-hard materials requiring good particle shape |
| Ball Mill | Fine grinding | Typically below 20–25 mm after crushing | Approximately 75–200 micrometres, depending on circuit design | Gold, copper, iron, lead-zinc, lithium, and other ores | Versatile, proven technology with wet and dry grinding options | High energy consumption and possible overgrinding if classification is inadequate | The best general-purpose mill for preparing ore for flotation or leaching |
| Rod Mill | Coarse or intermediate grinding | Usually below 25 mm | Approximately 0.5–3 mm, depending on the circuit | 砂砂-making applications, tungsten, tin, copper, and other ores | Can produce a relatively uniform product with less overgrinding than some ball-mill circuits | Longer mill length and grinding media management may increase operating requirements | The best option when a comparatively coarse and narrowly sized product is required |
| Flotation Machine | Concentration by surface chemistry | Usually ground below approximately 0.2 mm | Commonly effective for particles from about 10–200 micrometres | Copper, lead-zinc, nickel, molybdenum, phosphate, and sulfide gold ores | High selectivity and the ability to separate valuable minerals from complex ores | Requires chemical reagents, controlled pH, suitable liberation, and skilled operation | The best mineral machine for fine-grained sulfide ore concentration |
| Magnetic Separator | Magnetic concentration or purification | Coarse, medium, or fine feed depending on separator type | Commonly used from several millimetres down to fine powder | Magnetite, ilmenite, chromite, manganese ore, quartz, and ceramic raw materials | Low chemical consumption, continuous operation, and effective removal of magnetic impurities | Performance depends strongly on magnetic susceptibility and particle liberation | The best choice for magnetite recovery and iron removal from non-magnetic products |
| Spiral Classifier | Hydraulic classification | Usually receives slurry from grinding circuits | Separates coarse and fine particles according to settling velocity | Gold, copper, iron, lead-zinc, and other wet grinding circuits | Simple design, low operating cost, and no moving parts in the submerged zone | Lower classification efficiency than hydrocyclones in many fine-particle applications | The best economical classifier for conventional wet grinding circuits |
| Hydrocyclone | Fine classification | Slurry from grinding or desliming circuits | Typical cut sizes range from approximately 10–150 micrometres | Nearly all wet mineral processing circuits | Compact footprint, high throughput, and no moving parts | Requires stable feed pressure and can be sensitive to feed-density changes | The best choice for compact, high-capacity classification in closed-circuit grinding |
| Shaking Table | Gravity concentration | Generally below 2 mm, with optimal performance often at finer sizes | Separates particles according to density and size on a riffled deck | Gold, tin, tungsten, tantalum, chromite, and fine heavy minerals | Produces high-grade concentrates and allows visual adjustment during operation | Lower capacity and larger floor area than many continuous separators | The best option for small-scale cleaning and high-grade gravity concentration |
| Centrifugal Concentrator | Enhanced gravity concentration | Usually fine slurry below 2 mm | Effective for recovering fine, high-density particles, including fine gold | Gold, tin, tungsten, tantalum, and other heavy minerals | Strong recovery of fine heavy particles and relatively compact installation | May require water-pressure control and periodic concentrate cleaning | The best machine for recovering fine free gold that is difficult to capture by simple gravity methods |
| Thickener | Solid-liquid separation | Fine mineral slurry | Produces clarified overflow and concentrated underflow | Metal ores, industrial minerals, tailings, and process-water circuits | Reduces water consumption and prepares slurry for filtration or final disposal | Large footprint and possible settling problems with very fine or poorly flocculated solids | The best choice for recovering process water before filtration or tailings handling |
| Filter Press | Mechanical dewatering | Thickened mineral slurry | Produces filter cake with moisture commonly around 15–30%, depending on material | Concentrates, tailings, coal fines, sand, and industrial mineral slurries | High solid-liquid separation efficiency and relatively low final cake moisture | Batch operation, cloth maintenance, and periodic cake discharge are required | The best solution when dry-stack tailings or low-moisture concentrate cake is required |