Abstract
In the beneficiation of compact Itabirites, crushing and grinding account for major operational and capital costs. As such, the study and development of comminution circuits have a fundamental importance for feasibility and optimization of compact Itabirite beneficiation. This work makes a comparison between comminution circuits for compact Itabirites from the Iron Quadrangle. The circuits developed are: a crushing and ball mill circuit (CB), a SAG mill and ball mill circuit (SAB) and a single stage SAG mill circuit (SSSAG). For the SAB circuit, the use of pebble crushing is analyzed (SABC). An industrial circuit for 25 million tons of run of mine was developed for each route from tests on a pilot scale (grinding) and industrial scale. The energy consumption obtained for grinding in the pilot tests was compared with that reported by Donda and Bond. The SSSAG route had the lowest energy consumption, 11.8kWh/t and the SAB route had the highest energy consumption, 15.8kWh/t. The CB and SABC routes had a similar energy consumption of 14.4 kWh/t and 14.5 kWh/t respectively.
Highlights
Iron ore grade reduction in Brazilian deposits, mainly in the Iron Quadrangle, results in the need for concentration in order to meet the specifications of the steel industry
This context applies for a large number of mines that nowadays operate with Hematite or high grade Itabirite and who in the near future, will have to beneficiate low grade and compact Itabirite
The study was made with a sample of 2000 tons of a compact Itabirite collected in a Vale mine in the Iron Quadrangle
Summary
Iron ore grade reduction in Brazilian deposits, mainly in the Iron Quadrangle, results in the need for concentration in order to meet the specifications of the steel industry. In this kind of circuit, crushing and grinding account for the major operational and capital costs in reason of energy consumption and the large scale of the equipment and buildings. In this context, the study and development of comminution circuits is an important way to make the beneficiation of compact Itabirite feasible. Lima et al (2013) show a potential (CAPEX) and 7% in the operational costs Itabirites with an Operating Work Index reduction of 15% in the capital costs (OPEX) with the use of SAB route, for higher than 7,8kWh/t
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
