| Plant or Phrase Used | Meaning / Description |
| Grinding Plant or Grinding Circuit | The section of the processing plant where ore is ground into fine particles — usually includes ball mills, SAG mills, and sometimes pebble mills. |
| Mill Plant or Milling Plant | General term for the entire comminution facility (crushing + grinding). Ball mills are core units in this plant. |
| Concentrator Plant | The broader processing facility that upgrades ore into a concentrate (usually includes crushing, grinding, flotation, thickening, and filtering). Ball mills sit inside this plant, in the grinding section. |
| Comminution Circuit | Technical term for the size-reduction stages: crushing → grinding. Ball mills are part of the “secondary” or “tertiary” grinding stage here. |
| Grinding Line or Ball Mill Circuit | Sometimes used when multiple mills run in series or parallel; refers to a specific ball mill line in the plant. |
| Processing Plant / Process Plant | The overall ore-treatment plant (from raw ore to concentrate). Ball mills operate inside its grinding area. |
| Flotation Plant (linked) | The downstream plant that receives slurry from the ball mill discharge for flotation recovery. Often co-located with the mill. |
