Beneficiation of low grade Ghorabi iron ore,Bahariya Oasis,Egypt: a case study

Abstract

The Ghorabi iron ore is composed mainly of goethite, hematite and quartz minerals. Chemically, four-fifths of the ore (80·65%) are iron oxides (44·10%, 34·30%Fe) and silica (36·81%). The size distribution of the ore indicates that iron is concentrated in the fine fraction (>38% in fraction −53 μm) while silica is concentrated in the coarse fraction (>40% in fraction +53 μm). Conditioning of the ore with sodium silicate increases the iron and therefore reduces the silica in the fine fraction (−53 μm), and attritioning increases the fines (−53 μm) from 24 to 40·78% and iron from 38·64 to 46·20% in the fine fraction. In the present study the ore beneficiation is conducted by screening, attritioning, classification and magnetic separation. In the flowsheet, the optimised conditions are considered. The flowsheet includes crushing, grinding, attritioning with sodium silicate and screening into two size fractions, coarse −250+53 μm and fine −53 μm. The coarse fraction (+53 μm) is subjected to dry, low intensity magnetic separation, while the fine fraction is passed to a hydrocyclone. The overflow is rich in iron but the underflow is subjected to wet, high intensity magnetic separation. The final concentrate is represented by the magnetic fractions in addition to the hydrocyclone overflow, while the tail is represented by the non-magnetic fractions. The obtained concentrate is of high grade (53·22%Fe) and good recovery (83·00%) and suitable for blast furnace.

Keywords

EGYPT BAHARIYA OASIS GHORABI IRON ORE ATTRITION CLASSIFICATION MAGNETIC SEPARATION

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