The standard closed circuit comminution process commonly employed in industrial vertical roller mills has been analyzed to determine the influence of typical abrasive minerals on wear rates. With the main focus on raw mixes used in cement plants, synthetic mixtures imitating were prepared. Using statistical planning, a total of 10 tests were carried out with two different limestones and one type of quartz sand. The size distributions were kept constant and only the mixing ratios were varied. It appears from the investigation that mixtures consisting of minerals with different grindabilities result in an increased concentration of abrasive particles in the grinding bed (R(2) > 0.99). The present study shows that the quartz concentration in the grinding bed is determining the wear rate. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.