Experimental Study On Ore Dressing Of Highly Weathered Laterite Iron Or

As an important metal resource in our country,iron is widely used in various aspects of national economic production and construction.The demand for iron in society continues to increase.With the development of mineral resources,rich and easily exploitable ore is decreasing,while the demand for utilizing poor,fine,and complex resources is increasing.Therefore,carrying out research on the utilization of "poor,fine,and complex" mineral resources is an important direction for the development of our country’s iron mineral resources.The red soil-type iron ore in Dali,Yunnan Province has a high iron content,but the embedded particles are fine,the weathering is severe,and the ore contains a high amount of mud,which has resulted in the ore not being utilized effectively.This paper focuses on the beneficiation and tailings treatment of this highly weathered red soil-type iron ore to achieve efficient recovery of iron resources and efficient treatment of high-mud ultra-fine tailings,which has important theoretical and practical significance.The original ore contains 28.19% total iron(TFe)and 11.52% magnetic iron(m Fe).Phase analysis shows that the distribution of iron elements is as follows: magnetic iron accounts for 40.87% of total iron,siderite accounts for 0.16%,pyrite accounts for0.15%,iron silicate accounts for 0.61%,and hematite and other iron minerals account for 58.21% of total iron.Iron is mainly distributed in magnetic iron and hematite.The main metallic minerals are magnetite,maghemite,and goethite,with some goethite associated with pyrolusite and braunite and small amounts of copper minerals,lead minerals,and pyrite.Vein minerals are mainly quartz and feldspar.The particle size analysis of the original ore shows that the yield of the-1mm size fraction is 61.16%,with an iron grade of 18.12% and an iron distribution rate of 37.80%;the yield of the-0.074 mm size fraction is 47.96%,with an iron grade of 14.18% and an iron distribution rate of 23.19%;the yield of the-0.038 mm size fraction is 42.89%,with an iron grade of 13.55% and an iron distribution rate of 19.83%;the yield of the-0.01 mm size fraction is 20.81%,with an iron grade of 14.15% and an iron distribution rate of 10.04%.This ore has severe weathering,high mud content,low iron grade in the fine particle size fractions,and a low iron distribution rate.Based on a large number of particle size fractionation experiments,it was found that the iron in the-0.038 mm size fraction is not selective and can be removed by washing and discarding the tailings.By washing and discarding the tailings of the-0.038 mm size fraction of the original ore,a tailings concentrate with a yield of 57.22%,a TFe grade of 39.26%,and a recovery rate of 79.73% can be obtained from the original ore.Based on a series of experiments,it is recommended to use the following process:ore washing,desliming,and tailings discarding,followed by grinding of tailings concentrate,weak and strong magnetic rough separation,mixing of rough concentrates,weak and strong magnetic separation I,weak magnetic selection concentrate I,and weak magnetic selection II.This process can yield a weak magnetic final concentrate with a production rate of 16.89%,iron grade of 63.11%,and iron recovery rate of34.16%,as well as a strong magnetic final concentrate with a production rate of 16.55%,iron grade of 47.97%,and iron recovery rate of 28.17%.This process achieves a high iron concentrate grade and a relatively high recovery rate.The settling experiments were conducted on the tailings generated from the sorting process,including the desliming and discarding tailings,the magnetic separation tailings,and the mixed tailings of the two.Through comparing the settling effects,it is recommended to use the mixed tailings of desliming and discarding tailings and magnetic separation tailings.Adding 250g/t of N1 flocculant to the mixed tailings and settling for 180 s,the underflow concentration of 66.21% can be obtained.The underflow is then pretreated by mechanical stirring and vacuum filtration,and the filter cake with a moisture content of 17.12% can be obtained.The settling and dewatering time of the tailings is significantly shortened compared to the natural state,realizing the efficient dewatering treatment of high-mud and difficult-to-treat tailings.By conducting numerous experiments,a suitable beneficiation and tailings dewatering process has been developed,which can achieve efficient utilization of the highly weathered lateritic iron ore and can also serve as a reference for similar types of ore.