Beneficiation of Indian Iron ores and allied problems

Abstract

The important problem faced at present by the iron ore mining industry in India have been high–lighted. Beneficiation studies carried out with representative samples of various Indian iron ores have shown that scrubbing followed by wet–screening is absolutely necessary to solve the ore handling and screening problems, encountered in all the iron ore mines in India employing mechanized mining .Beneficiation of the fines, produced during mechanized mining, is need in a few cases to make them suitable for iron making after agglomeration and to bring down the cost of production of iron ore. this will produce a clean sized lumpy ore free from fines and assaying between 61.5%to 68.5%Fe and upgraded fines free from slimes, and assaying between 63.5% to 66% Fe. For the concentration of hydroxide variety of iron ores, which are rare to in India, a complex treatment involving not only scrubbing followed by wet screening and jigging of the fines but heavy media separation of the lumps also is required. The magnetite hematite ores of India can easily be upgraded, after grinding to the liberation size, by magnetic separation followed by either gravity treatment or flotation followed by either gravity treatment or flotation of the non–magnetic iron minerals.