8. Extractive beryllium metallurgy

All processes for the extractive metallurgy of beryllium from beryl are only applied to concentrates grading more than 10% BeO. After the ore has been blasted and the large blocks crushed, sorting is carried out on pieces larger than 2 mm. Smaller elements are therefore lost. Many beryl occurrences are too fine to be sorted. For this reason, we have tried to concentrate the beryl by flotation in a mineralurgical stage prior to beryllium extraction. The bertrandite ores from the Brush Wellman mine go straight to extractive metallurgy, as a beneficiation stage is not possible given the variability of the ore's composition.