Recovery of Hematite from Banded Hematite Quartzite of Southern India by Magnetic Separation and Reverse Flotation

Recovery and grade are the two crucial performance parameters commonly used in mineral processing plant operations. These two parameters are interdependent. An increase in recovery would result in a decreased product grade and vice versa. The present study enumerates concentration efficiency (CE),wh...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aspari Kumara Swamy, Suresh Nikkam, Sharath Kumar Palthur
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-08-01
Series:Minerals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/9/1095
Description
Summary:Recovery and grade are the two crucial performance parameters commonly used in mineral processing plant operations. These two parameters are interdependent. An increase in recovery would result in a decreased product grade and vice versa. The present study enumerates concentration efficiency (CE),which can be adopted exclusively for processing low-grade hematite ore by WHIMS—the reverse flotation route to produce a pellet grade concentrate. In this study, the ore’s amenability by wet high-intensity magnetic separation followed by the reverse flotation of a magnetic concentrate route is investigated on BHQ samples of the Sandur schist belt (Kumaraswamy hills), India, after its characterization by microscopic and XRD studies. Dodecyl amine acetate was used as a collector to float siliceous gangue while depressing hematite using the freshly synthesized caustic starch as a depressant. The separation efficiency of the flotation was evaluated by estimating the grade, recovery, and concentration efficiency. The WHIMS conducted using the feed with the particle size minus 106 µm (d<sub>80</sub> = 82 µm) followed by reverse flotation produced a pellet grade concentrate assaying 64.60% Fe, a 0.32 alumina-to-silica ratio with 60.4% Fe recovery, and a yield of 37.4% with 79.0% concentration separation efficiency.
ISSN:2075-163X