Enhancing PHGMS performance for recovery of ultra-fine ilmenite from tailings
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1
Kunming University of Science and Technology
 
2
Assiut University, Egypt
 
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SLon Magnetic Separator Co.
 
 
Publication date: 2024-06-04
 
 
Corresponding author
Zixing Xue   

Kunming University of Science and Technology
 
 
Physicochem. Probl. Miner. Process. 2024;60(3):189617
 
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ABSTRACT
In southwest China, the Panzhihua area annually produces about 80 million tons of tailings with a TiO2 grade of around 5.0%, which causes serious waste of titanium resources as well as environmental and safety issues. The ilmenite contained in these tailings is ultra-fine in size, so it is difficult to recover under the regular operating conditions of pulsating high gradient magnetic separation (PHGMS). In this study, an SLon-100 PHGMS separator was applied to concentrate an ultra-fine titanium tailing under a wide range of operating conditions. The experimental results indicated that a combination of high pulsating frequency, large pulsating stroke, and low feed velocity was favorable for the highly efficient recovery of ultra-fine ilmenite from the tailings. The TiO2 grade in the optimal concentrate was enhanced from 4.33% to 13.64%, at a recovery of 66.55% and an enrichment ratio of 3.15 through a one-stage PHGMS process. The size analysis of the optimal concentrate showed that the TiO2 recovery in -25+18 µm and -18+10 µm fractions exceeded 70%. To further understand this PHGMS performance, the optimal ultra-fine ilmenite and larger-size ilmenite concentration conditions were compared. This study provides a valuable reference in the PHGMS operation for recovering ultra-fine weakly magnetic minerals, including ilmenite.
eISSN:2084-4735
ISSN:1643-1049
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