The process of spodumene from raw ore to concentrate

China is rich in spodumene mineral resources, but its composition and structure are complex, the mineral particle size is uneven, there are many types of gangue minerals, and the utilization rate of mineral resources is relatively low.

Commonly used spodumene beneficiation methods in actual production mainly include flotation and gravity separation. At the same time, they need to be combined with other beneficiation methods to separate and enrich other useful components in the ore.

The flotation method is one of the more important methods for sorting spodumene. After the raw ore is crushed, the coarse-grained and fine-grained spodumene are pre-selected using graded dual media to obtain coarse-grained and fine-grained spodumene concentrate products respectively.  Gravity separation of spodumene has the advantages of low investment, low cost and high grade of concentrate. Therefore, the combination of the two can effectively improve the mineral processing efficiency of spodumene. The specific process includes the following steps:

(1) Coarsely crush and finely crush the spodumene ore, and then screen the spodumene ore.

(2) The screened spodumene ore is classified using a hydrocyclone to obtain light products and heavy products. The heavy products are obtained through screening and media removal processes to obtain spodumene concentrate 1.

(3) The light product is naturally dried after screening and media removal, and then crushed to 4 mm for a second time. The hydrocyclone classification, screening and media removal processes are repeated again to obtain spodumene concentrate 2.

(4) Concentrate the overflow product separated by the above hydrocyclone, grind it after concentration, and mix it with water again. After the slurry is completed, add the regulator (sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide, the dosage is 500~1500g/ t and 400~1000g/t), activator (calcium chloride, dosage is 50~300g/t) and collector (one or two of oleic acid, sodium oleate and oxidized soap wax, dosage is 50 ~200g/t), conduct multiple selections and sweeps, and obtain spodumene concentrate 3.

(5) Combine spodumene concentrates 1, 2, and 3 to obtain qualified spodumene concentrate.