Mechanical Activation Panzhihua Ilmenite Concentrate The Mineral Structure And Properties Of Variation

In this paper, the researches on the manufactures of high-grade titanium-rich materials from ilmenite concentrates and on the effects of mechanical activation on the accelerating the dissolution rate of different minerals were reviewed. In the face of the structural and mineralogical properties of Panzhihua ilmenite concentrate of China and the disadvantage of its mechanical activation researches, this work focused on the effects of structural changes of ilmenite, plagioclase and titanaugite single minerals in the Panzhihua ilmenite concentrate on the reactivities resulted by mechanical activation.The structural changes of unactivated and mechanically activated ilmenite, titanaugite and plagioclase were investigated using XRD, particle size analysis, and SEM, etc. The results show that with the increase of mechanically activation time, the lattice strain of ilmenite increased gradually, and its crystallite size and particle size decreased constantly; and the lattice strain of titanaugite increased gradually, its crystallite size and particle size first decreased then increased; while the lattice strain of plagioclase first increased then decreased, its crystallite size first decreased then increased, and the particle size reduced regularly.The thermal behaviours of unactivated and mechanically activated ilmenite, titanaugite and plagioclase were studied by thermogravimetry method (TGA). Unactivated and mechanically activated ilmenite underwent thermal oxidation, resulting to a mass increase, from 303 to 1273 K under oxygen atmosphere. With the increase of mechanically activation time, the initial oxidation temperature of ilmenite decreased gradually, and the maximum mass gain ratio in the TGA curve reduced regularly. The results indicate that these phenomena mostly are attributed to the increase of the lattice strain of ilmenite. Unactivated and mechanically activated titanaugite and plagioclase underwent mass losses from 303 to 1473 K under nitrogen atmosphere. And the maximum mass loss ratio of titanaugite and plagioclase both first increase and then decrease which imply that the differences of thermal behaviors between the mechanically activated and unactivated titanaugites or plagioclases were the mutual effects of the change of lattice disorder and the decrease of particle size during the mechanical activation.Effects of mechanical activation on the hydrochloric acid leaching behaviors of ilmenite, titanaugite and plagioclase were investigated. The results show that mechanical activation improved the leaching reactivity of these three minerals. The results indicate that the accelerating leaching capability of ilmenite and titanaugite mostly ascribe to the lattice disorder of the minerals after mechanical activation, while the leaching differences between unactivated and mechanically activated plagioclases are attributed to both the change of lattice disorder and the decrease of particle size.Hydrochloric acid leaching behavior of unactivated and 4 h mechanically activated of mixture samples of ilmenite and titanaugite/ plagioclases were studied. The results show that the leaching of ilmenite was inhibited when titanaugite/plagioclase was present in the sample due to silica gel produced from the titanaugite/plagioclase covering the surface of unleached ilmenite, then impeding the iron, magnesium and calcium of ilmenite being leached.