Conservation of Resources by Processing of Waste Dumped Iron Ore Fines

Abstract

The dumped iron ore sample having 49.62% Fe, 6.96% SiO2, 9.94% Al2O3, and 7.65% LOI was used for the present investigation. Characterization studies of the as-received sample reveal that major iron-bearing minerals present in the ore are hematite and goethite. The magnetite/ martitized magnetite is observed in minor traces. The major gangue minerals are clay and gibbsite followed by quartz. The present study aims to enrich the iron values of dumped iron ore fines to produce a value-added product. The iron values present in the feed sample were enriched by removing silica and alumina. The deslimed feed was subjected to a Floatex Density Separator. A statistical factorial design matrix was followed for conducting the tests using the process variables as, teeter water flowrate, bed pressure, and pulp density. The underflow obtained from FDS content is 58.2% Fe and the product yield is 64.4%. For further enrichment of the Fe-grade of the U/F, it was ground to 150μm for better liberation. After desliming the ground product of U/F, Fe-grade could be improved to 60%, and further subjecting the deslimed product to magnetic separation enhances the Fe-grade to 62% with mass recovery of 44.5%. The final product produced from the dumped iron ore fines could be used for pellet feed.