AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSES

A bauxite reserve with an Al2O3 grade less than 50% is classified as low-grade bauxite due to the presence of impurities such as silica and iron oxide, thus pretreatment before concentration (Bayer process) is required to reduce SiO2 and Fe2O3. Hence, this study investigates the feasibility of remov...

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Main Authors: Amirhossein Ashrafi, Asghar Azizi, Zahra Bahri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Zagreb 2025-01-01
Series:Rudarsko-geološko-naftni Zbornik
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Online Access:https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/481991
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author Amirhossein Ashrafi
Asghar Azizi
Zahra Bahri
author_facet Amirhossein Ashrafi
Asghar Azizi
Zahra Bahri
author_sort Amirhossein Ashrafi
collection DOAJ
description A bauxite reserve with an Al2O3 grade less than 50% is classified as low-grade bauxite due to the presence of impurities such as silica and iron oxide, thus pretreatment before concentration (Bayer process) is required to reduce SiO2 and Fe2O3. Hence, this study investigates the feasibility of removing SiO2 and Fe2O3 from a low-grade bauxite ore using magnetic separation and flotation processes. Different magnetic methods were utilized to eliminate iron impurities, and the results indicated that the high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) with an intensity of 18000 Gauss had the best output in reducing Fe2O3 with 18.03% Fe2O3 content and a 31.15% removal rate. In the next step, reverse and direct flotation techniques were employed to remove silica from the sample. The findings showed that the highest removal efficiency of SiO2 was achieved using the reverse flotation process at 750 g/t Armac C collector, 1200 g/t starch, 40 g/t MIBC and 11 pulp pH. Ultimately, the HGMS followed by reverse flotation with an Armac C collector (750 g/t) was implemented on the bauxite sample, and the content of Fe2O3, and SiO2, silica removal efficiency, and Al2O3/SiO2 mass ratio was found to be 17.76, and 22.11%, 45.22% and 1.63, respectively, indicating that HGMS followed by flotation is not effective enough in reducing iron oxide and silica, and therefore requires further pretreatment and/or the study of a suitable alternative method. The behaviour observed may be because iron oxide and silica minerals were fine-grained diseminated in the bauxite sample.
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spelling doaj-art-307d6e9e274f4c0fb3aaf1d23a8c9b992025-08-20T03:50:12ZengUniversity of ZagrebRudarsko-geološko-naftni Zbornik0353-45291849-04092025-01-0140311913010.17794/rgn.2025.3.9AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSESAmirhossein Ashrafi0Asghar Azizi1Zahra Bahri2Faculty of Mining, Petroleum & Geophysics Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, IranFaculty of Mining, Petroleum & Geophysics Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, IranDepartment of Control and Modeling of Mineral Processing Systems, Institute of Mineral Processing, Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR) at Tarbiat Modares, Tehran, IranA bauxite reserve with an Al2O3 grade less than 50% is classified as low-grade bauxite due to the presence of impurities such as silica and iron oxide, thus pretreatment before concentration (Bayer process) is required to reduce SiO2 and Fe2O3. Hence, this study investigates the feasibility of removing SiO2 and Fe2O3 from a low-grade bauxite ore using magnetic separation and flotation processes. Different magnetic methods were utilized to eliminate iron impurities, and the results indicated that the high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) with an intensity of 18000 Gauss had the best output in reducing Fe2O3 with 18.03% Fe2O3 content and a 31.15% removal rate. In the next step, reverse and direct flotation techniques were employed to remove silica from the sample. The findings showed that the highest removal efficiency of SiO2 was achieved using the reverse flotation process at 750 g/t Armac C collector, 1200 g/t starch, 40 g/t MIBC and 11 pulp pH. Ultimately, the HGMS followed by reverse flotation with an Armac C collector (750 g/t) was implemented on the bauxite sample, and the content of Fe2O3, and SiO2, silica removal efficiency, and Al2O3/SiO2 mass ratio was found to be 17.76, and 22.11%, 45.22% and 1.63, respectively, indicating that HGMS followed by flotation is not effective enough in reducing iron oxide and silica, and therefore requires further pretreatment and/or the study of a suitable alternative method. The behaviour observed may be because iron oxide and silica minerals were fine-grained diseminated in the bauxite sample.https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/481991low-grade bauxitesilicaremoval efficiencymagnetic separationreverse flotation
spellingShingle Amirhossein Ashrafi
Asghar Azizi
Zahra Bahri
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSES
Rudarsko-geološko-naftni Zbornik
low-grade bauxite
silica
removal efficiency
magnetic separation
reverse flotation
title AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSES
title_full AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSES
title_fullStr AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSES
title_full_unstemmed AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSES
title_short AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRETREATING OF A LOW-GRADE BAUXITE ORE USING MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION PROCESSES
title_sort investigation into the pretreating of a low grade bauxite ore using magnetic separation and flotation processes
topic low-grade bauxite
silica
removal efficiency
magnetic separation
reverse flotation
url https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/481991
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