A Comprehensive Review on Wear Resistance and Fracture Toughness of Metal Tools for Baryte Mining and Processing: A Mechanistic Approach

The quality of metal tools used for mining and mineral processing is tested in service and evaluated based on their resistance to wear and fracture. These tools are mostly used by artisanal miners whose activity constitutes ~ 90% of the entire mining activities in Nigeria and several other mineral and mining nations in sub-Saharan Africa. The industrial-scale mining of baryte in Nigeria has also been unsuccessful due to tools wear and high cost of repair. Thus, the need to source materials with better wear resistance, reasonably high toughness, strength, and a balance of critical material properties for mining purposes. This paper presents a critical review of the wear resistance and fracture toughness of baryte mining tools. It assesses current limitations to metal tools used in baryte mining and failure of tools in service due to material deficiency and proposes cost-effective and indigenous solutions for improving wear and fracture toughness of tools. The paper also identifies factors underpinning the physical metallurgy of wear behaviour of baryte mining tools to optimise the overall mechanical properties in service. A desk-method study and topical issue-based discussion approaches were adopted in this review. Certain hard metal tools with excellent properties are identified. For cheaper and durable tools, it is critical to explore the qualities of low-carbon steel and cast iron by using technologies to reduce carbon content in cheap high-carbon steels or supplementing nitrogen (N) in certain metallurgical procedures. While other cost-effective methods of hardening steel using agricultural and domestic wastes (cassava leaves, potato sprouts, and bamboo shoots) are better alternatives, meeting the needs of artisanal miners for mining and cutting tools requires the introduction and adoption of laboratory-based techniques to solve real societal problems which is imperative for the development of indigenous technology for mineral extraction. This set of solutions goes beyond data gathering. It requires proper classifications of mining activities and the development of tools to meet specific needs. A recommendation for policy review on existing Mineral and Mining Acts is crucial to address poor infrastructure in mining and is helpful for the development of scalable prototype metal tools and materials with a balance of properties to withstand wear of tools and failure due to the contact with hard core and highly abrasive rocks and ores and excessive cyclic loading of the mining tools in service.