Milling of granular materials is a commonly used process in many different manufacturing fields. Every day, millions of dollars are spent on milling operations, the most common of which is ball milling. However, milling is often the biggest cost in a process involving particulates, and the efficiency of such operations is poor. This research explores the ability to increase milling efficiency and reduce overall operating time through manipulation of operating parameters. Experiments are performed to build the parameter space of the breakage of silica sand in a batch ball mill as a function of rotation rate, grinding media fill level and grinding media size. Results suggest that, when using larger media, optimal breakage occurs at the lowest fill level and slowest rotation rate, i.e. the lowest energy input per revolution. When using a smaller media size, optimal breakage is a function of both the grinding media fill level and the rotation rate. This optimum varies for each parameter combination, and does not exist on the extremes of the parameter space, as was the case with the larger media. In addition, it is shown that variation of the operating speed partway through operation can achieve a similar product concentration in a shorter period of time. Our investigation demonstrates the applicability of a simple tool that is able to increase the efficiency of milling operations through well defined manipulations of operating conditions.