Beneficiation study on barite ore of Duddar area, district Lasbela, Balochistan Province, Pakistan

Abstract

This study highlights the results of processing an indigenous low to medium grade barite ore of Duddar area, district Lasbela, Balochistan, Pakistan. The ore was characterized by x-ray diffraction technique. The gravity concentration and forth flotation technologies were employed to beneficiate the ore in order to achieve commercial grade barite concentrate with economical recovery. The results showed that flotation was the better method than gravity concentration to concentrate the barite mineral. A process flow sheet was designed in the light of these experiments. The flotation tests revealed that barite concentrate assaying 95.85% BaSO4 could be obtained with recovery of 82.06% from an ore containing 76.04% BaSO4. The flotation concentrate was leached to get rid of objectionable impurities. The final leached barite concentrate possesses 98.86% BaSO4 content and conforms to the specifications of industrial grade barite concentrate.