Assessment of Reuse Potential of Low-Grade Iron Ore Fines through Beneficiation Routes

Abstract

The iron ore deposits are sedimentary in nature. In 2021, approximately 1.95 billion metric tons of crude steel were produced globally, compared to 2.6 billion metric tons of usable iron ore. Iron ore is the primary source of the iron and steel industries, which in turn are essential to maintaining a strong industrial and economic base. Globally, 86% of the total iron produced is used in steelmaking. The most important iron ore minerals include hematite, magnetite, and taconite. The other iron ore minerals include goethite, laterite, etc. Hematite and magnetite are most commonly exploited for their iron values. Considering the non-renewable nature of iron ore, there is a paradigm shift towards the upgrading and beneficiation of low-grade iron ore. The widely accepted techniques for beneficiation include jigging, magnetic separation, enhanced gravity separation, froth flotation, etc. Owing to density contrast, iron can be separated from the gangue in simple jigging cycles. The electromagnetic laboratory-scale Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separator (WHIMS) removes fine magnetics and para-magnetics from mineral slurries. The physical and chemical properties of the ore mineral, as well as their mutual relationship, have a large impact on the beneficiation efficiency. In most of the processing units, the small, dense particles report to the tailing fraction, causing a significant loss in ore values. In such challenging cases, the enhanced gravity technique is useful. It is a combination of centrifugal force and gravitational force that facilitates the separation of low-density ore minerals and gangue. The paper focuses on the importance of a characterization study for the success of beneficiation.