Stepwise recovery of magnesium from low-grade ludwigite ore based on innovative and clean technological route

Abstract

Abstract A novel and clean technological route for the comprehensive utilization of low-grade ludwigite ore was proposed, in which magnesium was extracted by metallizing reduction-magnetic separation, sulfuric acid leaching and ethanol precipitation operation. Meanwhile, iron-rich product, silicon-rich product and boron-rich product were obtained, respectively. In the process of metallizing reduction-magnetic separation, 94.6% of magnesium was enriched in the non-magnetic substance from the ore reduced at 1250 °C for 60 min with the ore size of 0.50–2.00 mm and coal size of 0.50–1.50 mm. When the non-magnetic substance was leached at 90 °C for 15 min with the liquid-to-solid ratio of 7:1, 87.4% of magnesium was leached into the liquor separated from silicon gathering in leaching residue. The ethanol precipitation was conducted for 30 min with the ethanol-to-original liquid volume ratio of 1.5:1 at room temperature. 97.2% of magnesium was precipitated out with the initial concentration of 0.8 mol/L in the form of MgSO4·7H2O.