## 1 Introduction  
Tablets represent the most widespread and preferred oral dosage form due to their ease of administration, precise dosing, long-term stability, and cost-effectiveness [1, 2, 3, 4]. Despite their convenience, the manufacture of high-quality tablets requires meeting rigorous pharmaceutical standards, including uniform active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content, consistent dissolution behavior, appropriate mechanical strength, biocompatibility of excipients, and stability over the product's shelf life [5, 6, 7]. Among the most common technological approaches in tablet production are direct [8, 9] compression and wet granulation followed by compression [10, 11]. Direct compression simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating the need for a granulation step. This reduction in processing stages translates to lower production costs, shorter process times, and the avoidance of water or organic solvents--making it an attractive strategy, particularly for heat- or moisture-sensitive APIs. However, this method imposes strict requirements on the physicochemical properties of the formulation blend, including adequate flowability and compressibility [12]. In contrast, wet granulation is a more robust technique for improving powder flow, density, and content uniformity [13]. It involves agglomerating fine powders with a binder solution to form granules, which are then dried and compressed. Although effective, wet granulation is resource-intensive and involves multiple unit operations that increase energy consumption and processing time [14; 15]. In this study, sodium naproxen was chosen as the model API due to its known poor flow and compactibility characteristics [16; 17]. It presents substantial formulation challenges in direct compression. These properties are representative of many widely used APIs with problematic physical characteristics, such as, ibuprofen [18]. By contrast, actives such as lactose-based model drugs are known for their better processing behavior and can be formulated more easily using direct compression [19]. Therefore, sodium naproxen serves as an appropriate benchmark for evaluating the potential of alternative processing strategies, such as vibratory ball mill mixing. The formulation also included dolomite, a naturally occurring mineral composed of calcium and magnesium carbonates, used here as a low-cost and environmentally friendly filler. Owing to its abundance and non-toxic profile, dolomite is gaining attention as a sustainable excipient in solid dosage form development. Studies have demonstrated its potential as a filler in polymer composites, where it can enhance mechanical properties and thermal stability. For instance, research by [PERSON] et al. highlighted the use of dolomite as a filler in recycled polypropylene matrices, noting improvements in tensile strength and modulus at certain loading levels [20]. However, while dolomite offers many advantages [21], it can present processing difficulties during compression, such as segregation and heterogeneity in die filling, especially when combined with other cohesive or electrostatically charged materials. These challenges often necessitate granulation prior to tableting to ensure homogeneity and tablet quality. Granulation processes, particularly wet granulation, are extensively used in the pharmaceutical industry to improve powder flowability and prevent segregation of constituents due to differences in particle size or density [22]. Additionally, studies have shown that granulation narrows the particle size distribution of a tablet formulation's bulk powder, eliminating segregation problems and ensuring superior compressibility in the tableting process [23]. The formulation was complemented with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a binder to facilitate granule formation, microcrystalline cellulose as a compressible filler, and magnesium stearate as a lubricant to reduce die wall friction during compression.