Beneficiation and Separation of Egyptian Tantalite Ore

Abstract

The demand for tantalum and niobium has increased steadily due to their importance in the production of modern industrial materials and high tech consumer products such as super alloys and cell phones. This work aims at recovery of tantalum and niobium from Abu Dabbab deposits at the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The beneficiation was successfully performed using shaking table concentrator and carpco magnetic separator. The enrichment ratio reached up to 160-times for both Ta2O5 and Nb2O5. Aliquat 336 ionic liquid was used for separating Ta2O5 with purity of 90%. Amberlite anion exchanger was used for separating Nb2O5 with purity of 87%.