Effects of oxidation of minerals on physico-chemical properties pertaining to gravity separation

This paper discusses the alteration characteristics of beach placer ilmenites which is initially processed by gravity separation techniques (for pre-concentration) along with other beach placer heavy minerals. Ilmenite alteration mechanism can be explained as Ilmenite® Pseudorutile®Rutile/anatase + Hematite. In the past, several attempts have been made and to characterize the products of alteration. The important alteration indicator is the ratio of Fe2+/Fe3+ in ilmenite. The change in the ferrous to ferric ratio leads to possible changes in the mineral phases and there by a distinct change in the specific gravity. The change in specific gravity apparently affects the grade and recovery of the valuable minerals during pre-concentration by gravity methods. In the present paper alteration/oxidation characteristics of ilmenite was studied in detail and their effects on gravity separation were discussed.