Document Type : Original Research Paper
Authors
1 JSW Steel Limited
2 JSW Steel Limited, India
Abstract
The selective flocculation and dispersion process on iron ore slimes is primarily motivated by economic necessity to recover valuable iron from mining waste and the subsequent environmental benefits of reducing and better managing large volumes of tailing waste. The laboratory beneficiation studies have been carried out on beneficiation plant rejects (i.e., slimes) using dispersion and selective flocculation followed by a magnetic separation process. The samples collected were initially subjected to chemical and mineralogical studies. The sample consists of 47.2% Fe, 11.32% silica, 11.82% alumina, and 7.87% LOI, with 70 to 80% below 10 µm particles. The mineralogical studies indicated the presence of hematite as the major iron-bearing mineral, and goethite and limonite are the minor iron-bearing minerals, with quartz and kaolinite/clay as gangue minerals. In this process starch is used as a flocculant, with sodium silicate used as a pH modifier and dispersant. The processed slurry was subjected to two-stage wet high-intensity magnetic separators. The selective flocculation process, followed by magnetic separation, achieved a product quality of 62.2% Fe, 3.30% silica, and 3.13% alumina, along with a weight recovery of 41.60%. Through the dispersion and selective flocculation process, the weight recovery and concentrate Fe were improved by 5% and 1.2% in Fe grade compared to the magnetic separation process alone.
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