Mineralogical Characteristics of Hematitic Iron Ore: A Geometallurgical Study on Ore from Eastern India

Chita R. Mahanta, Prabodha R. Sahoo, Manoj K. Mohanta, Rajendra K. Rath, Shobhana Dey, Sunil Kumar Tripathy, Jitendra Prasad, Akella S. Venkatesh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

After being subjected to geometallurgical evaluation, the iron ores from Singhbhum Bonai-Keonjhar region, eastern India, have been designated as dense martite microplaty hematite high-strength ore (dM-mH-hs ore), massive dense martite microplaty hematite high-strength ore (mdM-mH-hs ore), schistose microplaty hematite low-strength ore (smH-ls ore), microplaty hematite powdery ore (mH-p ore), vitreous goethitic ore (vG ore), and ochreous goethitic ore (oG ore) end members, with varied strengths attributed to the microporosity levels. The first four variants form typical high-grade run-of-mines (ROMs) (hard, soft and powdery iron ore variants, e.g., ROM-HIO, ROM-SSIO, and ROM-PBD, respectively) with better amenability to beneficiation. In contrast, oG and vG ore end members form ROM lateritic iron ore (ROM-LIO) with poor amenability to beneficiation, having relatively higher concentrates of alumina (~3–6 wt%) due to the complex mineral chemistry of goethite and altered hematite. Banded hematite jasper (BHJ) is a very low-grade siliceous end member. In a mining operation, the ROMs may have the attributes of several combinations of the above-stated end members and ROM variants. The designated end members present in the ROMs determine their liberation, mineralogical processes, geometallurgical characteristics, amenability to beneficiation, product grade and recovery.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1194
JournalMinerals
Volume13
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • amenability to beneficiation
  • geometallurgy
  • iron ore
  • microtexture
  • mineralogy

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