Oxidation roasting was proposed to treat the problem of the weak magnetic properties of ilmenite. The effects of roasting temperature, roasting time and cooling method on the results of ilmenite magnetic separation were studied. At the same time, the mechanism of the oxidation roasting process was analyzed by XRD, VSM, SEM-EDS. Determine ilmenite suitable oxidation roasting conditions for roasting temperature 750 °C, roasting time of 20 min, and cooling method of air cooling; at this time, the yield of 96.79% can be achieved in the magnetic field intensity of 238.74 kA/m. The XRD results showed that phase changes in the roasting process occur in the order of ilmenite to hematite and rutile to pseudobrookite. The results of VSM showed that the maximum specific magnetization coefficient of ilmenite increased from 3.25×10^-5 m³/kg to 5.58×10^-5 m³/kg after roasting, and the magnetic property was enhanced. The results of SEM-EDS showed that the phase transition of ilmenite during the roasting process occurs in a spatial order from the edge of the particles to the interior.