Beneficiation of low-grade Iron ore from Goalpara, Assam

An iron ore sample from Goalpara, Assam, assayed 46,45% Fe, 4.41% FeO, 32.0% SiO2, 0.6% Al2O3, 0.22% CaO, 0.6% MgO, 0,16% S and 0.073% P. quartz which was the principal gangue in the ore was liberated at -48 mesh,. Gravity methods after grinding to -48 mesh size yielded satisfactory results of which the combination of spiral and table treatments after hydro-classification gave the best results yielding a concentrate assaying 66.33% Fe with a recovery of 91.0 Fe. Anionic flotation in the acid circuit yielded a concentrate assaying of 66.2% Fe with a recovery of only 79.4% Fe but cationic flotation using Aeromine 3037 at a pH of 7.8 could produce a concentrate assaying of 67.44% Fe with a recovery of 93.4% Fe.