Electrical conductimetry is used to characterize the evolution of a closed stirred system consisting of finely ground potassium sulphate and its saturated solution. The agglomeration of the finest particles is found to be irreversible and, as such, disturbs Ostwald ripening. The model proposed here takes into account this interaction between the two phenomena; the assumption that the submicron particles disappear by aggregation with larger grains or agglomerates is confirmed by the experimental results.