Abstract
Low-grade phosphate rock from Sra Ouertane (Tunisia) was beneficiated using a thermal treatment consisting of calcination, quenching, and disliming. Untreated phosphate rock samples (group 1), calcined phosphate rock samples (group 2), as well as calcined, quenched, and dislimed (group 3) phosphate rock samples, were investigated using inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Besides, the particle size distribution of the aforementioned three groups was determined. The proposed thermal treatment successfully increased the P2O5 content of the untreated phosphate rock from 20.01 wt% (group 1) to 24.24 wt% (group 2) after calcination and, finally, 27.24 wt% (group 3) after calcination, quenching, and disliming. It was further found that the concentration of relevant accompanying rare earth elements (Ce, La, Nd, Pr, Sm, and Y) was increased and that the concentration of Cd could be significantly reduced from 30 mg/kg to 14 mg/kg with the proposed treatment. The resulting phosphate concentrate showed relatively high concentrations in metal oxides: Ʃ MgO, Fe2O3, Al2O3 = 3.63 wt% and silica (9.81 wt%) so that it did not meet the merchant grade specifications of a minimum P2O5 content of 30 wt% yet. Removal of these elements could be achieved using additional appropriate separation techniques.
Highlights
Phosphate rock plays a critical economic role in Tunisia and other countries worldwide.The increasing demand for phosphate rock for fertilizer production and its importance in animal feedstocks, as well as food-grade phosphates and other industrial uses, further solidifies the importance of the phosphate industry in these countries
Low-grade phosphate rock from Sra Ouertane (Tunisia) was beneficiated using a thermal treatment consisting of calcination, quenching, and disliming
With the increased in mining of phosphate and other monetarily accompanying elements,elements, such as rare earth elements and(REEs) uranium presently valuable accompanying such as rare earth(REEs) elements and[4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11], uranium
Summary
Phosphate rock plays a critical economic role in Tunisia and other countries worldwide. Tunisia has three major phosphate rock deposits: the Northern Basin, the Eastern. More than 90% of the phosphate rock produced in Tunisia is mined from the Gafsa phosphate rock deposits withwith reserves matching thosethose of theof. With increased interestinterest in mining of phosphate rock androck other monetarily valuable been exploited [3]. With the increased in mining of phosphate and other monetarily accompanying elements,elements, such as rare earth elements and(REEs) uranium presently valuable accompanying such as rare earth(REEs) elements and[4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11], uranium [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11],considered presently low P-gradelow deposits aredeposits becoming relevant. Rock Deposits [19,20]. and Rare Earth Element (REE) Concentrations in Some Tunisian
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