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Characterization and Pre-concentration of Scandium in Low-Grade Magnetite Ore

  • Rare Metal Recovery from Secondary Resources
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Abstract

A large-scale magnetite deposit containing scandium oxide is located in Yunnan province of China. The reserves of scandium oxide in the deposit are estimated to be > 40,000 tons. With the aid of EDS analysis and polarizing microscopy, samples of the ore were examined, and the different types of minerals containing scandium were identified together with their disseminated features. The results reveal that the useful minerals for scandium pre-concentration are pyroxene, tremolite, hornblende and clay. Based on the sample’s composition, particle size distribution and the occurrence state of scandium, studies were conducted of the pre-concentration of scandium oxide from the low-grade magnetite ore. From the results of these experiments, a beneficiation process was developed and validated based on low-intensity magnetic separation for iron recovery and high-intensity magnetic separation for scandium enrichment.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this study was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (project no. 51664036), China Scholarship Council (Project No. 2018[3058]) and the Analysis and Testing Foundation of Kunming University of Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Xuefu Road, Kunming, China

    Peng Yan & Guifang Zhang

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S3E4, Canada

    Yindong Yang & Alexander Mclean

Authors
  1. Peng Yan
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  2. Guifang Zhang
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  3. Yindong Yang
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  4. Alexander Mclean
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Correspondence to Guifang Zhang.

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Yan, P., Zhang, G., Yang, Y. et al. Characterization and Pre-concentration of Scandium in Low-Grade Magnetite Ore. JOM 71, 4666–4673 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03541-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03541-5

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