Magnetic concentration route for recovering pellet feed fines stored in a mining dam

Abstract

The greatest and noblest challenge of mining engineering for the present and the future of iron ore treatment could be considered as the pursuit of optimizing the use of mineral resources. The use of mining tailings, in the mineral sector itself, or in another industrial branch, meets the needs of circular economy as it increases the useful service life of this material. In order to investigate this scenario, a technological characterization of a sample from a tailings dam was carried out along with magnetic concentration tests in a Wet High-Intensity Magnetic Separator (WHIMS) to propose a possible concentration route. In relation to the characterization itself, the results demonstrated a relative density of 3.04 x 10 3 Kg/m 3 and an average superficial specific area of 3.75 cm³/g. The granulometric analysis classified the material as fine, with d 90 of 0.110 mm and d 50 ≅ 0.049 mm. Quartz, hematite, goethite, kaolinite and manganese oxide were identified in the sample. The test which presented the best results (66.83% Fe and 1.74% SiO 2 ) consisted of the Rougher, Cleaner and Recleaner phases, using a 1.5 mm grooved GAP matrix, a 7,000 Gauss magnetic field, 30% solids, and water pressure at 0.5 kgf/cm 2 (49.0 x 10 3 Pa). Finally, the conclusive results indicate that the studied material can be concentrated through magnetic concentration, keeping in mind the specifications concerning the pellet feed fines commercial product. Besides the financial gain, the activity prolongs the durability of the tailings dam and reduces the environmental impacts associated with these structures.

Optimization of magnetic separation of hematite contained in the depressed product from vazante mine s zinc ore flotation

“…Tailings dams have been the preferred method of disposal of such materials [3]. However, recent dam breach events in Brazil [4] and the growing demand for mineral goods [5] have enhanced the appeal of alternative tailings disposal methods and a more effective recovery of minerals contained in such tailings [3,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. For both economic and socioenvironmental reasons, the mining industry has sought to identify these materials' applicability by recovering more products in mineral processing plants.…”