Granulometric Separation of Bauxite Tailings to Metallurgical Processing
The beneficiation of bauxite ore generates significant quantities of tailings, primarily composed of kaolinite and residual gibbsite, the latter still amenable to metallurgical recovery. In this study, bauxite tailings were reprocessed based on particle size classification from 30 µm to 2 µm, obtain...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Associação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais (ABM); Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica (ABC); Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol)
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Materials Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-14392025000200227&lng=en&tlng=en |
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| Summary: | The beneficiation of bauxite ore generates significant quantities of tailings, primarily composed of kaolinite and residual gibbsite, the latter still amenable to metallurgical recovery. In this study, bauxite tailings were reprocessed based on particle size classification from 30 µm to 2 µm, obtained by sedimentation. The resulting fractions consisted mainly of fine to ultrafine particles, comprising approximately 80%. These fractions contained gibbsite and kaolinite as the dominant mineral phases, in varying proportions. Chemically, Al2O3 and SiO2 were the major components, with a progressive reduction in Al2O3 and a corresponding increase in SiO2 as particle size decreased. This trend was confirmed by an increasing SiO2/Al2O3 ratio, indicating silica enrichment attributed to kaolinite and alumina depletion associated with gibbsite. The results suggest that gibbsite remains recoverable even in finer fractions, while kaolinite becomes progressively liberated. This behavior supports the potential for reprocessing tailings only to fines particles and reducing the reactive silica. |
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| ISSN: | 1516-1439 |