The characterisation of magnetic materials extracted from the aceh iron sand

Abstract

This study aims to identify the content and particle shape, and to determine the type, of iron oxide in the magnetic material from Aceh iron sand. The samples were taken from four seacoast locations, namely Mon Klayu, Mantak Tari, Lam Panah and Syiah Kuala beaches. The magnetic materials are separated from the iron sand using an external magnet, washed out with distilled water and dried at 80 ?C. The materials were characterized by XRD and SEM. The results show that the magnetic materials sampled from Aceh iron sand contain 88.93, 96.3, 92 and 85% of Fe, respectively. The iron oxide found in Aceh iron sand was predominantly magnetite (Fe3O4) or ilmenite (Fe,Ti3)O4; however, there are also other oxide impurities, such as silica and chromium oxides. The identified minerals were classified as lithogenous sedimentary volcanic minerals, which have a black colour and spherical shape. Related to that, the sampling locations of these minerals were types of volcanic minerals and lithogenous sediments, since the position of the coast locations is adjacent to Burni Telong, Peut Sago and Seulawah volcanos, and the minerals are carried by the stream to the beaches through the river flow, which further supports the assumption of their volcanic origins.