| Summary: | During the iron ore sintering process, its SiO<sub>2</sub> content considerably affects the sinter quality. In this study, the effect of SiO<sub>2</sub> content on iron ore sintering indexes was studied, with mineral composition and microstructure analyses. It was shown that the strength and reducibility of sintering products improved when SiO<sub>2</sub> content increased. The sinter yield and tumbler index increased from 69.57% and 58.67% to 74.02% and 62.32%, respectively, with SiO<sub>2</sub> content increasing from 3.92% to 5.12%. Moreover, the reduction disintegration index (RDI<sub>+3.15</sub>) increased from 66.50% to 68.28%. There was a quadratic function relationship between SiO<sub>2</sub> content (x) and RDI<sub>+3.15</sub> (y): y = −0.4841x<sup>2</sup> + 5.8932x + 50.8189. Maintaining the SiO<sub>2</sub> content in the range of 4.52% to 5.12% would promote the formation of compound calcium ferrite (SFCA) and silicate as the main binding phase which determined the quality of sintering products.
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