The prospects for expanding the iron ore mineral and raw material base through the processing of oxidized ferruginous quartzite of the Mikhailovskoe deposit

Abstract

According to the results of geological and process mapping for oxidized ferruginous quartzites of the Mikhailovskoe deposit, the following industrial types of ores have been identified: refractory ores (RO), medium ores (MО) and free-milling ores (FMO). The total iron in the flotation tails of reverse cationic flotation is assumed as the flotation concentration potential criterion. A fundamentally new magnetic flotation process for oxidized ferruginous quartzites has been designed and pilot tested, that includes reverse cationic flotation; a set of studies have been completed to evaluate the processing properties of the ores and their concentration potential in the process proposed. The possibility of effective concentration of MO and FMO oxidized ferruginous quartzites has been established for the process proposed, under the optimal conditions, while obtaining the required concentrate quality, with Fetotal in the concentrate of 67.38 and 69.88 %, respectively. The RO type ores were found unsuitable for obtaining iron ore concentrates of the required quality due to the fine dissemination of quartz in the iron ore minerals and to the complex close intergrowth of iron ore minerals with siderite, pyrite, and ferrous amphibole, which are carriers of iron and pass into the flotation tails of reverse cationic flotation, while rep-resenting detrimental impurities. Based on the results of the work, a feasibility study is being developed for the processing of oxidized ferruginous quartzites of the Mikhailovskoe deposit.