Flocculation of iron ore slimes from Joda and Kiriburu mines

Abstract

The present paper reports the flocculation of iron ore slimes from Joda mines of TISCO and Kiriburu mines of SAIL situated in the west Singhbhum district of Bihar, India. These two slimes had marginal difference in density. The presence of clay minerals was more in case of Joda slimes. The settling rate following flocculation was measured as function of time. The effect of pulp density and flocculant dose at neutral pH was studied in the tests. The sedimentation rate increases with increasing flocculant dose up to a certain limiting value after which the improvement is marginal. The pulp density and flocculant dose have considerable effect on the settling rate. Joda slimes has poorer settling characteristics in comparison with Kiriburu slimes. The effect of pulp density and minerals present in these slimes are apparent from these observations