New Flake Graphite Mill in Korea

Large-scale production of quality-grade flake crystalline graphite, an economically and strategically important carbon mineral, is under way for the first time in the Republic of Korea at a new modern mill located in Shiheung county, Kyonggi Province, near Seoul. This Shiheung Graphite Mill was built under a joint project of the Republic of Korea Government, the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA), and the Shiheung Crystalline Graphite Mining Company of Seoul, which is the end-user. Here is a section of the interior of the Mill. The ""heart"" of the flake graphite extracting and concentrating process is the flotation cells. Air combined with flotation reagents in the cells form a froth. The graphite flakes, which are held by the froth, are swept mechanically into a trough which then carried them on to additional concentrating and, finally, drying operations.