History Mineral processing

a set of cornish stamps

before advent of heavy machinery raw ore broken using hammers wielded hand, process called spalling . before long, mechanical means found achieve this. instance, stamp mills used in samarkand 973. in use in medieval persia. 11th century, stamp mills in widespread use throughout medieval islamic world, islamic spain , north africa in west central asia in east. later example cornish stamps, consisting of series of iron hammers mounted in vertical frame, raised cams on shaft of waterwheel , falling onto ore under gravity.

the simplest method of separating ore gangue consists of picking out individual crystals of each. tedious process, particularly when individual particles small. comparatively simple method relies on various minerals having different densities, causing them collect in different places: metallic minerals (being heavier) drop out of suspension more lighter ones, carried further stream of water. process of panning , sifting gold uses both of these methods. various devices known buddles used take advantage of property. later, more advanced machines used such frue vanner, invented in 1874.

other equipment used historically includes hutch, trough used ore-dressing machines , keeve or kieve, large tub used differential settlement.