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Characterization and Beneficiation Studies of a Low Grade Bauxite Ore

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Abstract

A low grade bauxite sample of central India was thoroughly characterized with the help of stereomicroscope, reflected light microscope and electron microscope using QEMSCAN. A few hand picked samples were collected from different places of the mine and were subjected to geochemical characterization studies. The geochemical studies indicated that most of the samples contain high silica and low alumina, except a few which are high grade. Mineralogically the samples consist of bauxite (gibbsite and boehmite), ferruginous mineral phases (goethite and hematite), clay and silicate (quartz), and titanium bearing minerals like rutile and ilmenite. Majority of the gibbsite, boehmite and gibbsitic oolites contain clay, quartz and iron and titanium mineral phases within the sample as inclusions. The sample on an average contains 39.1 % Al2O3 and 12.3 % SiO2, and 20.08 % of Fe2O3. Beneficiation techniques like size classification, sorting, scrubbing, hydrocyclone and magnetic separation were employed to reduce the silica content suitable for Bayer process. The studies indicated that, 50 % by weight with 41 % Al2O3 containing less than 5 % SiO2 could be achieved. The finer sized sample after physical beneficiation still contains high silica due to complex mineralogical associations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Director, CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar for his kind permission to publish this paper.

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  1. CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, 751 013, Odisha, India

    D. S. Rao & B. Das

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  1. D. S. Rao
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  2. B. Das
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Correspondence to D. S. Rao.

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Rao, D.S., Das, B. Characterization and Beneficiation Studies of a Low Grade Bauxite Ore. J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. D 95, 81–93 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40033-014-0050-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40033-014-0050-8

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