Quantitative Investigation of Roasting-magnetic Separation for Hematite Oolitic-ores: Mechanisms and Industrial Application

Abstract

Natural high-quality iron can be directly applied to pyro-metallurgy process, however, the availability of these ores has become less and less due to exploitation. This research reports a systematic approach using reduction roasting and magnetic separation for oolitic iron ores from west Hubei Province. Firstly, a mineralogical study was performed and it was shown that the oolitic particles were mainly composed of hematite, with some silicon-quartz inside the oolitic particle. Then, the roasting temperature was examined and shown to have significant influence on both Fe recovery and the Fe content of the concentrate. Also the Fe content gradually increased as the temperature increased from 700 to 850 °C. The most important aspects are the quantitative investigation of change of mineral phases, and reduction area (with ratio) during the reduction roasting process. The results showed that Fe2O3 decreased with temperature, and Fe3O4 (magnetite) increased considerably from 600 to 800 °C. The reductive reaction was found to occur from the outside in, the original oolitic structure and embedding relationship among the minerals did not change after roasting. Finally, 5% surrounding rock was added to mimic real industrial iron beneficiation. This study could provides useful insight and practical support for the utilization of such iron ores.