Abstract: In order to reduce the grinding cost，the industrial application of ceramic ball and steel ball medium in the two-stage mill of Heshangqiao concentrator is compared. Under the conditions of ore feeding amounts of 350 t/h and 380 t/h respectively，two series of parallel sampling tests are carried out at the same time. Among them，first series of two-stage mills are grinded by steel balls，and second series of two-stage mills are grinded by steel balls + ceramic balls.The results show that when the feed rate is 350 t/h，the indexes of the two series of two-stage grinding and classification are close. when the feed rate is 380 t/h，the process parameters of first series of two-stage grinding and classification are significantly better than those of the second series，indicating that the grinding effect of steel balls is better than that of steel balls + ceramic balls when the processing capacity is high.As the processing capacity and concen⁃ trate grade of the second series are not affected，the effect of energy saving and consumption reduction is remarkable. Finally，the application of steel ball + ceramic ball is extended to first series. The two series of two-stage mills are grinding with steel ball + ceramic ball. It is estimated that the annual power con⁃ sumption cost can be saved by about 11.12 million yuan and the ball consumption cost can be saved by about 2 million yuan.

Key words: ceramic ball, steel ball, grinding, energy saving