Mineralogy and textural impact on beneficiation of goethitic ore

Abstract

The effect of mineralogy and texture on the beneficiation of goethitic ores from two different origins is highlighted. Sample A having 54.47% Fe with 8.57% loss of ignition (LOI) indicates the presence of vitreous and ochreous goethite, martite and microplaty hematite as the major minerals. Sample B contains 56.90% Fe with 14.4% LOI. There is a pisolithic laterite containing vitreous and ochreous goethite, quartz, kaolinitic clay and there is no hematite mineral. The liberated minerals in −150 + 100 μm size class are 74% for Sample A and 37% only for Sample B which shows that the Sample A appears to be more amenable to beneficiate. A concentrate of 46.7% with 63.22% Fe could be recovered from Sample A while subjected to gravity separation followed by wet magnetic separation. The Sample B does not respond to gravity and magnetic separation due to its complex mineralogy. However, calcination of the Sample B followed by magnetic separation gives the encouraging results. Thus, anomalous behaviour of the goethite dominated ores in beneficiation is attributed to the different textural and liberation characteristic.