Improving the technology of manganese ore X-ray radiometric separation

Abstract

Introduction. In addition to the classical methods of manganese ore processing, a lower-cost and more environmentally friendly technology of X-ray radiometric separation (XRS) has been developed in the last twenty years. The technology has been embraced by enterprises and applied to improve the efficiency of manganese deposits development. The article provides original results of the research carried out by Irgiredmet institute concerning the development of the procedure and technology of manganese ore XRS. Research methodology. The XRS methodology is based on the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method of elements detection common in geophysical practice. A methodological task of these method is to find manganese in ore containing not only manganese but also iron, as soon as the two elements possess characteristic X-ray radiation (CXR) close in energy and mutually affect the accuracy of their detection by the X-ray fluorescence analyzers. The chosen research methodology allowed developing a new way of keeping records of the elements when solving the problems of manganese ore sampling and sorting. Research results. A new and efficient algorithm of sampling manganese and iron has been developed and tested on different types of manganese and ferromanganese ore. The ratio of CXR of the detected elements to the total sum of the scattered radiation (SR) and these elements CXR intensity set by a special spectral coefficient k is such universal criterion which promotes to more accurate detection of manganese and iron content in lumps.