A difficulty to process a low quality titano-ferrite concentrates

Abstract

The essential technological criteria interfering with the implementation of titano-ferrite concentrate accumulated in the amount of 4.5 thousand tones at the Obukhov deposit were determined by means of certified methods of chemical, fractional, granulometric and mineralogical composition analysis. A poor quality and unacceptable processing of the concentrate by applying the standard method of restoring electric smelting used to produce titanium slag is established to be stipulated by a high chromium trioxide (more than 8 wt.%) content, iron trioxide (over 29 wt.%); silicon dioxide (3.9 wt.%) and inconsistency with the regulated requirements for the mass fraction of titanium dioxide (about 52%). The great number of rutile insoluble in acids to 17 wt.% within the sand fraction and about 27 wt.% within the titano-ferrite fraction eliminates opportunity to involve leucoxenized high chromium concentrate into the processing by means of sulfuric dissolution method used to obtain pigmental titanium dioxide. Besides, an obstacle to process the concentrate is connected with the extreme dissemination and close assemblage of rutile and pseudomorphic varieties of leucoxenized titano-ferrite (arizonite, pseudo-brookite) with metal and nonmetal minerals that predetermine joint concentration of the bulk of titanium, iron, chromium, other accompanying elements and just a little smaller half of the total amount of silicon (44.35 wt.%) in aggregate of mineral flakes with a size of –0.063+0.044 mm. The most preferable conditions of mineral flakes disintegration were selected to ensure an increase in the granulometric composition of the concentrate to 90-95 % of –0.063+0.044 mm class in the process of short-term, for 10-15 minutes, mechanical activation, caused by the rapid destruction of large aggregates of mineral individuals. An exploratory research has shown that, despite the fineness of grinding, the significant leukoxenization of titano-ferrite causes a low, only 47-50 %, degree of dissection of the activated concentrate by the sulfuric acid dissolution method.