Abstract
Iron ore processing and the resulting concentrates involve many properties that seldom are studied properly. The purpose of this work was to carry out characterization studies, emphasizing mineralogy, microstructure and specific surface area (SSA), on three concentrates from different typologies of iron ore (namely, K9, N6 and G) that showed similar particle size distribution and chemical composition. All samples were made up of dominant hematite and minor quartz. Goethite was a significant component of N6 and K9 concentrates. The occurrences of the following mineral/microstructure aspects determine increasing values of SSA: lamellar hematite and quartz, martitic hematite with significant porosity, friable botryoidal and microporous goethite, and earthy-like goethite. Only lamellar hematite predominates in G-type concentrate, which showed the lowest SSA value (0.84 m2/g). Lamellar and martitic hematite plus a lower amount of goethite were dominant in K9 type, which had an SSA value of 1.78 m2/g. Martitic and lamellar hematite and medium quantity of goethite (with significant proportion of the earthy variety) composed N6 type, which showed the highest SSA value (3.27 m2/g). This difference in SSA had an important and practical implication on the rheological behavior of the concentrates’ slurries to be transported in a pipeline to a distant pellet production plant. The improper rheology values had to be corrected by the tightly controlled addition of reagents.
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Nonmeeting paper number 04-306. Original manuscript submitted for review March 2004. Discussion of this peer-reviewed and approved paper is invited and must be submitted to SME Publications Dept. prior to Nov. 30, 2005.
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Santos, L.D., Brandao, P.R.G. & Sampaio, D.A. Mineralogical and morphological characterization of iron ore types from Minas Gerais, Brazil — influences on the specific surface area of concentrates. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 22, 116–120 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403124
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403124