1963
Research on High Efficiency and Low Consumption
Beneficiation Technology of Iron, Copper, and Phosphorus in an
Ultra Low grade Magnetite
Yangge Zhu, Songqing Li, Xiaoxing Hu, Wanqin Xiao
State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, BGRIMM Technology Group
Jianxi Sun
Beijing Huaxia Jianlong Mining Technology Co.,Ltd.
ABSTRACT: To realize economical and comprehensive utilization of iron, copper, and phosphorus from an
ultra low grade magnetite ore in northern China, the process is characterized by performing the main separation
process under rough grinding conditions to reduce the feeding quantity by multistage pre concentration is
determined. In the technical process, the classic technique called “pre concentration before grinding -stage
grinding and magnetic separation” is firstly conducted to recover magnetite. Then wet discarding by middle
intensity magnetic separation is used to remove gangues containing micron-sized magnetite from the iron
tailings, achieving a discarding rate of 32.09%. The wet discarding concentrate enters the copper and phosphorus
flotation process with a fineness of –0.074 mm accounting for only 40%. By adopting the above mentioned
technique, the mine underwent a transformation in process technology to develop the iron-phosphorus-copper
recovery technology. The industrial test results demonstrate that an iron concentrate with a total Fe(TFe) grade
of 65.23% and a TFe recovery of 46.82%. The resulting phosphate concentrate boasts a P2O5 grade of 33.10%
and a recovery of 63.04%. Additionally, the copper concentrate exhibits a Cu grade of 16.12% with a recovery
of 41.46%. The insights gleaned from this study provide valuable guidance for similar mines aiming to optimize
their recovery processes.
Keywords: ultra low grade magnetite ore pre concentration phosphorus coarse particle flotation technology
INTRODUCTION
It is estimated that China’s northern Hebei and western
Liaoning regions ultra-low-grade magnetite ore resources
exceeding 10 billion tons in reserves (Wu et al., 2020). The
main feature of this resource is that it has many valuable
components, but its grade is extremely low. Apart from
iron resources, the ore also contains phosphorus, cop-
per, titanium, and other valuable components that can
be comprehensively utilized.The total iron grade (TFe) in
the ore ranges from 10% to 20%, of which the magnetic
iron (mFe) content is only about 5%, which is significantly
lower than the industrial grade currently developed and uti-
lized (TFe25%, mFe20%). The associated Cu content is
only about 0.03%, and the P2O5 content is around 2%.
These values differ considerably from those of conventional
mineral processing industrial grades, where Cu content in
Research on High Efficiency and Low Consumption
Beneficiation Technology of Iron, Copper, and Phosphorus in an
Ultra Low grade Magnetite
Yangge Zhu, Songqing Li, Xiaoxing Hu, Wanqin Xiao
State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, BGRIMM Technology Group
Jianxi Sun
Beijing Huaxia Jianlong Mining Technology Co.,Ltd.
ABSTRACT: To realize economical and comprehensive utilization of iron, copper, and phosphorus from an
ultra low grade magnetite ore in northern China, the process is characterized by performing the main separation
process under rough grinding conditions to reduce the feeding quantity by multistage pre concentration is
determined. In the technical process, the classic technique called “pre concentration before grinding -stage
grinding and magnetic separation” is firstly conducted to recover magnetite. Then wet discarding by middle
intensity magnetic separation is used to remove gangues containing micron-sized magnetite from the iron
tailings, achieving a discarding rate of 32.09%. The wet discarding concentrate enters the copper and phosphorus
flotation process with a fineness of –0.074 mm accounting for only 40%. By adopting the above mentioned
technique, the mine underwent a transformation in process technology to develop the iron-phosphorus-copper
recovery technology. The industrial test results demonstrate that an iron concentrate with a total Fe(TFe) grade
of 65.23% and a TFe recovery of 46.82%. The resulting phosphate concentrate boasts a P2O5 grade of 33.10%
and a recovery of 63.04%. Additionally, the copper concentrate exhibits a Cu grade of 16.12% with a recovery
of 41.46%. The insights gleaned from this study provide valuable guidance for similar mines aiming to optimize
their recovery processes.
Keywords: ultra low grade magnetite ore pre concentration phosphorus coarse particle flotation technology
INTRODUCTION
It is estimated that China’s northern Hebei and western
Liaoning regions ultra-low-grade magnetite ore resources
exceeding 10 billion tons in reserves (Wu et al., 2020). The
main feature of this resource is that it has many valuable
components, but its grade is extremely low. Apart from
iron resources, the ore also contains phosphorus, cop-
per, titanium, and other valuable components that can
be comprehensively utilized.The total iron grade (TFe) in
the ore ranges from 10% to 20%, of which the magnetic
iron (mFe) content is only about 5%, which is significantly
lower than the industrial grade currently developed and uti-
lized (TFe25%, mFe20%). The associated Cu content is
only about 0.03%, and the P2O5 content is around 2%.
These values differ considerably from those of conventional
mineral processing industrial grades, where Cu content in