Assessing the performance of a novel pneumatic magnetic separator for the beneficiation of magnetite ore

Economic and Socio-Environmental Benefits of Dry Beneficiation of Magnetite Ores

“…Based on the concentrate mass yield, the comminution energy per tonne of iron oxide concentrate (IOC) was determined and used in the cost estimation. The outcomes from the study have been presented by Baawuah et al [16] and a summary is presented in Table 2. The beneficiation circuit and energy balance for Flowsheet 1 are shown in Figure 1.…”

“…The filter cake was dried, weighed, and assayed for the respective elemental compositions. The outcome of this study is presented by Baawuah et al [16] and a summary of some of the key findings with the energy balance is presented in Table 2. Figure 2 shows the conceptual beneficiation circuit for Flowsheet 2.…”

“…A detailed characterization of the ore used in this study has been presented in our previous study [16], and it was composed of 45.2% Fe, 10.4% Si, 8.1% Mg, 3.82% Ca, and 2.34% Al. Mineralogical analysis of the ore using QEMSCAN™ showed that the major iron-bearing minerals in the ore are magnetite (38%), goethite (16%), and hematite (5%).…”

“…However, no significant breakthrough has been introduced for the dry processing of magnetite ores, i.e., dry comminution through to dry magnetic separation. In our previous studies, we investigated the performance of a novel superfine crusher (SFC) [15] and a pneumatic planar magnetic separator (PMS) [16,17] as dry comminution and magnetic separation technologies, respectively, for processing fine-grained magnetite ores.…”

“…Baawuah et al [15] studied and compared the grinding efficiency of the SFC and HPGR and demonstrated that in comminuting a selected magnetite ore at identical net specific energy (NSE) input (~1.60 kWh/t), the SFC achieved a higher particle reduction ratio, operated at a lower operating work index (Wi o ), and lower size-specific energy (SSE) at 75 µm than the HPGR. In subsequent studies by Baawuah et al [16] using the same magnetite ore, the performance of the PMS in dry beneficiation of the finely ground magnetite ore feed was investigated and the outcomes were compared with those of wet drum low-intensity magnetic separator (WLIMS). The study demonstrated that the PMS produced cleaner magnetite concentrate than that of the WLIMS.…”