Characterization of graphite deposits of Arunachal pradesh

Abstract

Graphite, being one of the important non-ferrous minerals and having applications in various important industries, will find increased consumption in the coming years. Graphite, a mineral of pure carbon, is one of the most versatile elements in industry, because of its varying physical properties and characteristics. It is a crystalline form of carbon and a good conductor of heat and electricity and a good lubricant. It is also used in nuclear reactor as moderator. India has a large deposition of graphite minerals out of which about 43% are found in Arunachal Pradesh. However, compared to the rest of the country, the North-East Region and particularly Arunachal Pradesh has not attracted attention till date for detail investigation for characterization, beneficiation, prospecting and/or exploitation of the mineral resources including graphite. Bulk graphite sample were collected from different location of Arunachal Pradesh were crushed to all below 12 mm size. A representative sample was obtained by quartering and coning of the entire crushed sample, was subjected to sieving to obtain different size fractions of the graphite sample. The carbon content of the representative graphite sample was found to be 7–16% by CHN analysis of the different locations. The chemical analysis result shows that the fixed carbon content of the graphite sample found to be 5–10%. The chemical analysis, powder XRD and FTIR characterization indicated the presence of the silica, aluminium oxide, iron oxide, Ca, Mg etc in the raw graphite sample collected from Arunachal Pradesh.