A Method for Quality Control of Bauxites: Case Study of Brazilian Bauxites Using PLSR on Transmission XRD Data

Abstract

Available Alumina (AvAl2O3) and Reactive Silica (RxSiO2), the main parameters of bauxite controlled in the beneficiation process are traditionally measured by laborious, expensive, and time-consuming wet chemistry methods. Alternative methods based on XRD analysis, capable to provide a reliable estimation of these parameters and valuable mineralogical information of the ore, are being studied. In this work, X-ray diffraction data in transmission mode was used to estimate AvAl2O3 and RxSiO2 from Brazilian bauxites using the Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR) statistical tool. The proposed method comprises a routine of sample classification according to their similarities by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-means, calibration of the PLSR model for each group of samples, grouping new bauxite samples according to the generated clustering model, and subsequent estimation of the parameters AvAl2O3 and RxSiO2 using the PLSR models for these samples. The results showed good accuracy and precision of the models generated for samples of the main ore lithology. The quality and pre-processing of the XRD data required for this method are discussed. The results demonstrated that this method has the potential to be industrially applied to quality control of bauxites as a rapid and automated procedure.

Exploring Suspended Sediment Dynamics Using a Novel Indexing Framework Based on X‐Ray Diffraction Spectral Fingerprinting

“…A study conducted by Melo et al. (2021) established a comparative agreement among the traditional mineral quantification method and XRD‐PLSR technique for quality control of bauxite. Furthermore, the application of mid‐infrared (MIR)‐spectroscopy with PLSR modeling is a very well adopted method in the field of sediment fingerprinting while discriminating various sediment sources (Ni et al., 2019).…”

“…But, partial least square regression (PLSR) method is a proven spectral modeling approach in the field of soil science to quantify soil compounds with satisfactory results (Bruckman & Wriessnig, 2013;Dkhala et al, 2020). A study conducted by Melo et al (2021) established a comparative agreement among the traditional mineral quantification method and XRD-PLSR technique for quality control of bauxite. Furthermore, the application of mid-infrared (MIR)-spectroscopy with PLSR modeling is a very well adopted method in the field of sediment fingerprinting while discriminating various sediment sources (Ni et al, 2019).…”

Value of Mineralogical Monitoring for the Mining and Minerals Industry

“…Available alumina and reactive silica are the main parameters controlling the beneficiation of bauxite, which is traditionally measured by laborious, expensive, and time-consuming wet chemical digestion. Alternative methods based on XRD analysis are evaluated by Melo et al [8]. The potential of these methods industrially applied for rapid and automated quality control of bauxites is demonstrated.…”