Magnetite and Hematite

Beneficiation

GHD Energy & Resources

Kristine (Kris) Edwards
Principal Process Engineer

Table of Contents

About GHD
Different forms of iron ore
Whats it for?
Main types of separation
Some familiar flowsheets

At a glance

Basic Types of Iron Oxides

Hematite Fe2O3 , Pure hematite is 69.94% Fe
Martite - Fe2O3, crystal structure different to hematite and weakly magnetic
Goethite FeO(OH) or Fe2O3.H2O , combined water, contained in the
crystal structure of the mineral. It is not surface or free water. When heated
above 350 C this comes off as water vapour reducing the overall mass of
the sample which increases the percentage of the other remaining elements.
Loss on Ignition (LOI)
Theoretically Goethite is 62.85%Fe, 10.14 H2O, 89.86 Fe2O3
Limonite FeO(OH).nH2O
Magnetite Fe3O4 or Fe2O3.FeO is 72.36%Fe
MagHemite mixture of magnetite and hematite

Old Quality and possible Future Quality

Until 1999 iron ore quality needed to meet very specific targets.
World markets dictated
%Fe > 60%
%SiO2 <5.0%
%Al2O3 < 2.5%
%P < 0.08%
%S < 0.2%
%LOI < 7%
Why? Because these targets give the steel makers the most efficiency in
their blast furnace and BOF and hence more profit.

Lump definition
All for how it goes through the Blast Furnace

Lump is -32mm + 8mm (6.3mm for some)

The specifications include:
Maximum amount of -8mm (6.3mm)
Maximum amount +32mm
Tumble and abrasion (levels that indicate its tolerance to shipping and to
survival into the blast furnace)
Reduction, swelling and Low temperature Breakdown
All for how it goes through the Blast Furnace

Fines definition
All for how it goes through the sinter plant and then into the Blast Furnace

Fines are -8mm (-6.3mm for some)

The specifications include:
Maximum amount of +8mm (6.3mm)
Maximum amount -150 micron
Reducibility, sinter testing

Pellet definition
All for how it goes through the sinter plant and then into the Blast Furnace

Pellets use concentrate as feed, the size is ore dependent but is generally
in the range of 45 micron down to 27 micron. Material finer than that often
gives pellet with lower strength.
Pellets are balls around 8mm in size
The specifications include:
Tumble and abrasion (levels that indicate its tolerance to shipping and to
survival into the blast furnace)
Reduction, swelling and Low temperature Breakdown

Blast Furnace Hot Metal vs Slag

Effect
Fe

Reports to hot metal (95-97%)

Reports to hot metal (90-95%)

Mn

Reports to hot metal and slag

SiO2

Reports primarily to slag but some contribution as Si in hot metal

Al2O3

Reports to slag

CaO

Reports to slag

MgO

Reports to slag

Reports mainly to slag but parts go to the hot metal

Na2O, K2O

Report primarily to slag but have bad effects physically on the

furnace

Zn

Reports to flue dust can penetrate the furnace lining and

recirculate in the system

TiO2

Reports primarily to slag affecting viscosity

As, Cu, Sn, Ni

Report to hot metal

Cr

Reports primarily to hot metal

H2O

Reports to off gas

Typical Australian DSO Sinter

Fines Chemical Compositions

Name

Fe

SiO2

Al2O3

CaO

MgO

H2O

LOI

BHPB Mac

61.70

3.35

2.00

0.01

0.06

0.067

0.038

8.5

5.8

BHPB Mt Newman

63.00

4.15

2.10

0.06

0.09

0.079

0.010

6.1

3.1

BHPB Yandi

57.70

5.40

1.40

0.04

0.05

0.040

0.011

8.0

10.2

HI Pilbara Blend

61.84

4.28

2.23

0.10

0.08

0.081

0.016

7.0

5.2

HI Yandi

58.80

4.50

1.51

0.04

0.09

0.048

0.008

8.0

9.7

Robe River

57.10

4.70

2.50

0.51

0.16

0.027

0.015

8.5

10.0

FMG Rocket

59.50

3.90

1.90

0.05

0.07

0.054

0.030

8.0

8.0

Brazilian Itabirite Concentrate

Typical Traded Ore Specifications

Name

Fe

SiO2

Al2O3

H2O

LOI

Carajas

67.40

0.80

0.80

0.023

0.006

8.0

1.2

Vale SSF

66.00

3.65

0.70

0.026

0.005

4.7

0.9

Samarco Sinter Feed

67.10

1.85

0.50

0.045

0.010

8.3

0.8

Samarco Low Silica Pellet feed

67.17

1.10

0.30

0.040

0.003

9.6

2.4

Samarco Medium Silica Pellet feed

66.79

1.54

0.32

0.045

0.003

9.5

2.43

Carajas Pellet Feed

65.80

1.20

1.50

0.040

0.600

11.4

2.2

Vale Southern System Pellet Feed

67.80

1.40

0.40

0.035

0.150

7.7

0.9

BENEFICIATION (ben-uh-fish-ee-eh-shun)

Whether an iron deposit can be upgrades to a suitable grade is ORE

DEPENDENT
Each deposit has to be tested
Although for DSO simple descriptions, such as Marra Mamba and
Brockman can tell quite a lot about how it will crush
When it comes to processing there is no guarantee that a given ore type will
ever get to grade profitably.
There is often no correlation between head grade and ability to separate.
Testing is really the only way to tell.

How do we separate iron from gangue?

Four main methods around the world:
Magnetic Separation
Sizing (common in WA)
Gravity Separation
Flotation (mainly used in Brazil)

Magnetic separation as a primary process

Low intensity magnetic separation (<2000 Gauss) is suited only to

magnetite and sometimes martite.
Hematite is weakly magnetic and can be attracted to a magnetic field in the
ranges of 2000 to 15,000 Gauss. Unfortunately its magnetic susceptibility is
not a fixed number and each deposit reacts differently.
Some Goethites are weakly magnetic and some are not magnetic at all.
Magnetic separation has limited selectivity unless one is lucky to have a
specific gangue that drops out at a specific gauss
Finding the liberation size of the iron oxide minerals is key. And sometimes
that just isnt a size that is suitable as a product.
High intensity machines suitable for iron ore processing tend to have a
maximum gauss around 12,000 (bulk processing)
Magnetite contents above 5% will generally block any high intensity
machines matrix.

Typical Magnetite Plant

ROM
Rougher Feed
Primary Crusher
Cyclone

Rougher Conc

sag mill water

Rougher MS

Cyclone Feed

SAG Mill

Sieve Bend
SAG Discharge
primary crusher product

SAG Mill Feed

DSM OS
Primary Screen

finisher water

Sieve US
Screen OS
BM Feed

Plant Feed
Screen US

Finisher Conc
Cyc Feed water

Stockpile
Cobber MS

Conc Thickener

Finisher MS

Cobber Conc
Conc Thickener UF

Filter

Ball Mill
Rougher Tails

Finisher Tails

Cyclone Feed Sump

BM Discharge
Conc Thickener OF
Cobber Tails
mag concentrate
Filtrate
TThickener Feed
Paste Slimes

Paste Thickener

Thickener OF
Tails Thickener
Thickener OF_2

Fresh Water

Mag Stockpile
Paste
Tails Thickener UF
TSF

Tailings Pump

Process Water Tank

Fresh Water Tank

Example of Sizing for Upgrade

Given this Drop Test Results

Overall grade is quite good at 60.7, but if you
could remove the -0.150mm fraction, it would
increase to 63.4%Fe at 80% of the mass and
the SiO2 would drop from 9.3 to 5.5%
Screening at 0.15mm requires wet screening,
pumps and tailings. There are other options
(such as screen at 1mm and then cyclone to
make the cut size)

Screen

w t%

%Fe

%SiO2

+25.0

3.5

56.8

10.1

-25.0 +20.0

3.8

62.3

6.1

-20.0 +15.0

5.2

62.6

6.2

-15.0 +10.0

5.7

62.2

6.4

-10.0 +8.0

2.7

62.1

6.5

-8.0 +3.150

12.8

62.8

6.2

-3.150 +1.180

8.5

62.2

6.3

-1.180 +0.600

5.7

63.4

5.1

-0.600 +0.300

13.9

65.8

3.2

-0.300 +0.150

18.2

65.0

4.8

-0.150 +0.075

13.0

51.7

23.0

-0.075+0.045

4.2

43.4

33.1

-0.045

2.8

51.1

18.1

100.0

60.7

9.3

Upgrading by fines removal

Truck

ROM Stockpile

Rolls Crusher

Cone Crusher

May feed directly to Scrubber

Scrubber and Trommel

scrubber water

Cyclopak

may not have trommel

may have dewatering/sizing cyclones

Wet Screen

may only produce fines

Process Water
Thickener

Fines Stockpile

To Tailings

Lump Stockpile

Gravity Separation
The higher the iron in a particle the heavier it tends to be.
This is represented in the specific gravity of the particles
Hematite
4.8 - 5.1
Magnetite
5.3
Goethite
3.3 - 4.3
Limonite
2.9 4.3
Silica
2.65
Clays
1.8 - 3
Because you are trying to separate the heavier particles from the light
particles, size has an affect. A 1mm particle of pure silica will weigh
approximately the same as a pure hematite particle of 0.55 mm
The feed requires tight sizes to accomplish separation.
Each size fraction is best suited to particular types of equipment.

Gravity Separation - Types

Jigs

Coarse jigs 32 x 8 mm
Fine Jigs 8 x 4mm, 8 x 2mm, 4 x 1mm
Up Flow classifiers
-2mm
Heavy media separation
Drum separator -32mm x 8mm
Cyclone -8mm x 1mm
Spirals
Reflux Classifier
-1mm +45 micron

Jigs versus Heavy media

Generally each type of machine requires the screening and general layout for
either jigs or heavy media separators.
The main deciders in this would be the SG cut point for the given ore.
Heavy media will only reach about 3.6 maximum density. Some iron ores need
4 or 4.1 SG to upgrade and this is really only achievable in the jigs.
On the other hand at lower SG, the heavy media circuit will always get better
recoveries and sometimes better grades than the jigging circuit. But it has to
be enough of a difference in order to justify the costs of the ferro silicon
loss.
The best way to determine the correct choice is to pilot side by side.

Upgrading by Fines Gravity treatment

Truck

ROM Stockpile

Rolls Crusher

Cone Crusher

May feed directly to Scrubber

Scrubber and Trommel

scrubber water

Wet Screen

Reflux Classifier

Fines Stockpile

Up Current Classifier

Spirals

Belt Filter

Thickener

Process Water
To Tailings Dam

Upgrading by Heavy Media

Less than 45 micron

Once below 45 micron there are only a few options for upgrading magnetic separation or flotation
Low Intensity Magnetic Separation
For magnetites
Wet High Intensity Magnetic separation (or Medium Intensity)
Gaustec, Slon, Jones WHIMS, Readings, Eriez WHIMS, Metso HGMS
variations on a theme.
Flotation
Reverse flotation of gangue
Direct flotation of the iron oxide
Many WA ores do not contain liberated iron particles in these fine sizes.
The exception would be blue dust, but it would have to be treated without
any contamination fine iron silicates.

www.ghd.com