Analysis of the current
technical solutions for the processing
of iron ores showed that the high-grade ores are directly exposed
to metallurgical processing; by comparison, low-grade ores, depending
on the mineralogical and material composition, are directed to beneficiation
including gravitational, magnetic, and flotation processes or their
combination. Obtaining high-quality concentrates with high iron content
and low content of impurities from low-grade iron ores requires the
maximum possible liberation of valuable minerals and a high accuracy
of separating features (difference in density, magnetic susceptibility,
wettability, etc.). Mineralogical studies have established that the
main iron-bearing mineral is hematite, which contains 69.02 to 70.35%
of iron distributed in the ore. Magnetite and hydrogoethite account
for 16.71–17.74 and 8.04–10.50% of the component, respectively;
the proportion of iron distributed in gangue minerals and finely dispersed
iron hydroxides is very insignificant. Iron is mainly present in the
trivalent form—Fe
2
O
3
content ranges from
50.69 to 51.88%; bivalent iron is present in small quantities—the
FeO content in the samples ranges from 3.53 to 4.16%. The content
of magnetic iron is 11.40–12.67%. Based on the obtained results
by the investigation of the features of magnetite–hematite
ores from the Mikhailovskoye deposit, a technological scheme of magneto-flotation
beneficiation was proposed, which allows producing iron concentrates
with 69% of iron content and less than 2.7% silicon dioxide for the
production of pellets with subsequent metallization.