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A Full-Scale Centrifugal Dry Magnetic Separator for Separation
of Fine Magnetite Ore
Fan Yi ,Xiaoqian Liu, Jianwu Zeng, Luzheng Chen
Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
Xiangjun Ren
Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
SLon Magnetic Separator Co., Ltd., Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, China
Lixia Li
Department of Mineral Processing, School of Resources and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang,
Liaoning, China
ABSTRACT: The utilization of iron ore resources in arid and extremely cold areas has an urgent demand for
dry magnetic separation technologies, particularly those capable of processing fine and ultra-fine iron ores. A
centrifugal dry magnetic separator (cDMS) was creatively developed, and in the present investigation a full-scale
cDMS-1000 separator was used for separation of a fine magnetite ore, to study the effect of two key parameters,
i.e., feed particle size and separation cone speed on the separation performance of the separator. The results of
investigation indicate that the full-scale cDMS-1000 separator is effective in separating the fine magnetite ore.
The increase in the separation cone speed increases the iron grade of magnetite in concentrate but reduces the
magnetite recovery, and the grade and recovery of magnetite firstly increase and then decrease with increase in
feed particle size. While the two parameters were respectively optimized at –0.10 mm and 70 rpm, a primary
iron concentrate assaying 43.07% Fe with 98.38% iron recovery in magnetite at mass weight of 65.26% was
produced from the magnetite ore assaying 28.57% Fe in magnetite, with 34.74% by mass weight discarded as
tailings assaying only 1.33% Fe in magnetite. The cDMS separator provides a prospective technology for the
separation of fine magnetite in arid and extremely cold areas, and in dry processing operations.
Keywords: Centrifugal dry magnetic separation Magnetite ore Separation performance
INTRODUCTION
Iron ores provide basic raw materials for the global steel
industry, wherein magnetite with strong magnetism and
easy extractability is one of the ideal iron minerals for
the production of iron concentrate (McNab et al., 2009
Sun et al., 2020 Zhang et al., 2023). In the beneficiation
industry of ores, the qualified magnetite concentrates are
generally obtained from wet low-intensity magnetic sepa-
ration (LMS) process (Dworzanowski, 2010 Karmazin et
al., 2002 Mei et al., 2021 Xiong et al., 2015). However,
the wet LMS process requires a large amount of water as
the separation medium, which limits its validity for the
A Full-Scale Centrifugal Dry Magnetic Separator for Separation
of Fine Magnetite Ore
Fan Yi ,Xiaoqian Liu, Jianwu Zeng, Luzheng Chen
Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
Xiangjun Ren
Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
SLon Magnetic Separator Co., Ltd., Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, China
Lixia Li
Department of Mineral Processing, School of Resources and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang,
Liaoning, China
ABSTRACT: The utilization of iron ore resources in arid and extremely cold areas has an urgent demand for
dry magnetic separation technologies, particularly those capable of processing fine and ultra-fine iron ores. A
centrifugal dry magnetic separator (cDMS) was creatively developed, and in the present investigation a full-scale
cDMS-1000 separator was used for separation of a fine magnetite ore, to study the effect of two key parameters,
i.e., feed particle size and separation cone speed on the separation performance of the separator. The results of
investigation indicate that the full-scale cDMS-1000 separator is effective in separating the fine magnetite ore.
The increase in the separation cone speed increases the iron grade of magnetite in concentrate but reduces the
magnetite recovery, and the grade and recovery of magnetite firstly increase and then decrease with increase in
feed particle size. While the two parameters were respectively optimized at –0.10 mm and 70 rpm, a primary
iron concentrate assaying 43.07% Fe with 98.38% iron recovery in magnetite at mass weight of 65.26% was
produced from the magnetite ore assaying 28.57% Fe in magnetite, with 34.74% by mass weight discarded as
tailings assaying only 1.33% Fe in magnetite. The cDMS separator provides a prospective technology for the
separation of fine magnetite in arid and extremely cold areas, and in dry processing operations.
Keywords: Centrifugal dry magnetic separation Magnetite ore Separation performance
INTRODUCTION
Iron ores provide basic raw materials for the global steel
industry, wherein magnetite with strong magnetism and
easy extractability is one of the ideal iron minerals for
the production of iron concentrate (McNab et al., 2009
Sun et al., 2020 Zhang et al., 2023). In the beneficiation
industry of ores, the qualified magnetite concentrates are
generally obtained from wet low-intensity magnetic sepa-
ration (LMS) process (Dworzanowski, 2010 Karmazin et
al., 2002 Mei et al., 2021 Xiong et al., 2015). However,
the wet LMS process requires a large amount of water as
the separation medium, which limits its validity for the