Siderite separation process

Siderite, with the chemical formula of FeCO3, is an iron carbonate mineral belonging to the trigonal system. This mineral usually appears as irregular granules, with transparent or translucent crystals, while the aggregates may appear as granules, dense blocks or nodules. Siderite may contain elements such as Mn, Mg, and Ca as isomorphous impurities.

As an associated mineral of iron ore, the content of siderite in different iron ores can range from 2% to 20%, and it is often closely associated with minerals such as magnetite, hematite and quartz. Pre-separation of siderite by effective sorting technology can reduce the negative impact of fine-grained siderite mud on the iron ore sorting effect.

Step flotation technology

In the iron ore sorting process, reverse flotation is a key step, which directly affects the grade and recovery rate of the final iron concentrate

The presence of siderite poses a threat to the reverse flotation stability of hematite, especially when the siderite content is high, which may make it difficult to distinguish between concentrate and tailings.

The use of step-by-step flotation technology to preferentially separate siderite and then reverse flotate hematite can effectively eliminate the adverse effects of siderite on reverse flotation of hematite.

Graded flotation process

Since siderite is easily muddied during crushing, fine siderite may adhere to the surface of other minerals, which has a serious impact on the grade and recovery rate of flotation concentrate. In order to solve this problem, some scholars have proposed a graded flotation method, which can effectively achieve the flotation separation of fine minerals.

Graded flotation technology has been widely used in the flotation separation of coal slime, quartz and low-grade fine-grained minerals. It reduces the adhesion and covering phenomenon of fine siderite during the flotation of siderite-containing ores by reducing the agglomeration rate between mineral particles of different particle sizes, thereby improving the recovery rate of flotation separation. This process has shown good application results in the flotation separation of difficult-to-select iron ore.