As so ci ate Editor: Tomasz Bajda Four mac ro scop i cally vis i ble B-E (rim) zones, within a large nat u ral fer ric grossular gar net of Grs 58-64 Adr 36-42 Sps 2 com po sition, are de scribed by means of Rietveld re fine ments of the crys tal struc tures in a se ries of six space groups, fol lowed by com par a tive anal y sis of the R-val ues, site oc cu pancy fac tors, and bond lengths and an gles. The gar net crys tal lized in the rhombohedral R63c space group. Var i ous poly he dral dis tor tions and struc tural or der-dis or der vari a tions be tween the zones stud ied are also de scribed and dis cussed. The rhombohedral sym me try of the fer ric grossular gar net ana lysed can be regarded as pri mary, re sid ual strain be ing a sec ond ary cause for its slight op ti cal ani so tropy.

The macroscopically‐zoned grandite from the garnetite skarn of Meka Presedla (Kopaonik Mountain, Serbia) was studied with optical microscopy, electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), Fourier transform infra‐red (FT–IR), and Raman methods. The EMPA results indicate that the main core–rim compositional variations (Ca2.93–2.97Mn0.05–0.06Mg0.00–0.01Al1.14–1.26Fe3+0.72–0.83 Ti0.00–0.02Si2.97–3.02O12) slightly differ along the zones, showing evidence for a quasi‐cyclic alternation of the oscillatory zoning nature. Among this, considerable variation is observed only by the Al–Fe3+ substitutions in the octahedral site. The EMPA also indicate that the grandite zones compositionally vary, mostly within ±1 and ±2 mol% of the homogeneity level range, that is, Grs64±1Adr36±1Sps2 (A), Grs62±1Adr38±1Sps2 (B), Grs59±2Adr40±2Sps2 (C), Grs58±2Adr41±2Sps2 (D), and Grs58±1Adr41±1Sps2 (E). Therefore, the investigated garnet can be considered as relatively highly homogeneous. The majority of compositions lie within the narrow miscibility region of 0.58±2

In this paper, grandite core with Grs64±1Adr36±1Sps2 composition was crystallographically studied. This core represents zone A of the macroscopically visible five A–E zones of the optically anisotropic Grs58–64Adr36–42Sps2 grandite. The applied procedure includes the detailed analysis of the powder diffraction patterns, and the Rietveld refinements of the crystal structures in a series of 18 space groups and two mixtures, which were followed by the comparative analysis of the R-values, site occupancy factors, and the bond lengths and angles. Synthesis of all of the presented results allows us to undoubtedly conclude that studied grandite is not cubic, neither as monophase nor as multiple phases in a mixture. Namely, it was established that structural dissymmetrization occurred and that it crystallized in the disordered rhombohedral $R\bar{3}c$ or orthorhombic Fddd space groups, whereby the first one is more probable. Beside the established lower symmetry of the studied grandite, which could be treated as the primary cause, the residual strain is also not excluded as the second possible cause for its slight optical anisotropy.

Studied sludge samples are composed of major goethite and quartz; less clay minerals; and minor magnetite, hematite, clinochlore and todorokite. They have quite similar qualitative, but different semi-quantitative compositions. There are similar particle size distributions between the samples, and the highest contents of~50% belongs to the finest classes of <6 µm. Among size classes within the samples, almost identical iron contents are present; indicating their similar mineral compositions, which make these systems very complex for further separation processes. Sludge II has a higher natural settling rate, due to its higher density and mineral composition. With addition of the flocculant, settling rates increase significantly with the increase of the liquid component in both of the samples. The effect of flocculant on the settling rate is different between samples, and depends on their mineral composition. The time of settling does not play a role in selectivity, to the ratio of the mass of floating and sinking parts, and iron content does not change with time. The content of iron partially increases by flocculation; therefore, this method should be considered as an appropriate one. Zeta potential values for sludge are mostly between those for goethite and quartz, indicating their particle mixture and intricately association.

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