Recovery of Iron Ore Tailings byColumn Flotation

Abstract

The exploration of iron ore in small mining companies results in a large amount of unrecovered fine material, repre- senting 35% of the run of mine. Millions of tons of useful minerals are discarded every year into tailings, incurring op- eration costs, raising production losses and environmental impact. In addition to the disposal of 300 t/h of this material, millions of tons are already stored in tailings. CDTN carried out a study of the process in a column flotation pilot plant installed in the mining facilities with a slime sample, with a view to recovering this sludge using the reverse flotation technique. The aim of this experiment was to obtain a final concentrate whose Fe content assigned 66% with a SiO2 content below 0.8% and P lower than 0.03%. The results showed that the ultrafine flotation is an economical alterna- tive if the improvement of the recovery in the mineral sector is concerned. Ultrafine flotation can also be assessed when dealing with reduction and treatment of effluent discharged in the environment.