Mineralogy and carbothermal reduction behaviour of vanadium-bearing titaniferous magnetite ore in Eastern India

Vanadium-beaxing titaniferous magnetite bands hosted by Precambrian gabbro-norite-anorthositic rocks or their metamorphic equivalents were discovered in some parts of Eastern Indian Shield, containing 48%-49% Fe （total）, 10%-25% TiO2, and 0.3%-2.20% V2O5 by mass. Mineralogical and petrological study, composition, and characterization of the vanadium-bearing titaniferous magnetite ore were carried out by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray （SEM-EDX）, wave length X-ray florescence （WDXRF）, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy （ICP-AES）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, etc. Chemical beneficiation for valuable metals, such as Fe, Ti, andV, was performed by reduction roasting. The direct and indirect reduction were investigated by mixing the lump ore with solid activated charcoal in a closed reactor and purging the reducing gas mixture in standard reducibility index apparatus at different temperatures and time intervals. The reduction roasting parameters were optimized. Finally, the reduced samples were crushed and upgraded by magnetic separation. The results show that, the maximum mass fractions of magnetic and nonmagnetic parts achieved axe 69.36% and 30.64%, respectively, which contain 10.6% TiO2 and 0.84% V205 in the magnetic part and 36.5% TiO2 and 0.22% V205 in the nonmagnetic part.

Oxidation behaviour and phase characterization of titaniferous magnetite ore of eastern India

Titaniferous magnetite ore is a kind of symbiotic complex ore which comprises ilmenite, magnetite, hercynite and magnesio-hercynite spinel minerals. The ore collected from eastern India was characterized by XRD, WDXRF, SEM and M？ssbauer spectroscopy. The oxidation behaviour of fine ore was investigated by TG-DTA analysis under oxygen atmosphere. Subsequent isothermal oxidation experiments were carried out under oxygen and air atmospheres, holding the samples for different periods of time at different temperatures from 873 K to 1473 K. It was observed that ilmenite phase transformed to hematite and titanium dioxide at lower temperature, whereas ferric-pseudobrookite phase was found at higher temperature. Direct reduction of oxidized sample-coke cylindrical briquettes was successfully achieved for phase transition from titaniferous magnetite to iron and titanium dioxide at 1473 K.

Microbial leaching of chromite overburden from Sukinda mines,Orissa,India using Aspergillus niger

Leaching of nickel and cobalt from two physical grades （S1, 125-190 μm, coarser and S3, 53-75 μm, finer） of chromite overburden was achieved by treating the overburden （2% pulp density） with 21-d culture filtrate of an Aspergillus niger strain grown in sucrose medium. Metal dissolution increases with ore roasting at 600℃ and decreasing particle size due to the alteration of microstructural properties involving the conversion of goethite to hematite and the increase in surface area and porosity as evident from X-ray diffraction （XRD）, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis （DT- TGA）, and field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM）. About 65% Ni and 59% Co were recovered from the roasted S3 ore employing bioleaching against 26.87% Ni and 31.3% Co using an equivalent amount of synthetic oxalic acid under identical conditions. The results suggest that other fungal metabolites in the culture filtrate played a positive role in the bioleaching process, making it an efficient green approach in Ni and Co recovery from lateritic chromite overburden.

Kinetic studies on the reduction of iron ore nuggets by devolatilization of lean-grade coal

An isothermal kinetic study of a novel technique for reducing agglomerated iron ore by volatiles released by pyrolysis of lean-grade non-coking coal was carried out at temperature from 1050 to 1200℃ for 10-120 min. The reduced samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and chemical analysis. A good degree of metallization and reduction was achieved. Gas diffusion through the solid was identified as the reaction-rate-controlling resistance; however, during the initial period, particularly at lower temperatures, resistance to interfacial chemical reaction was also significant, though not dominant. The apparent rate constant was observed to increase marginally with decreasing size of the particles constituting the nuggets. The apparent activation energy of reduction was estimated to be in the range from 49.640 to 51.220 kJ/mol and was not observed to be affected by the particle size. The sulfur and carbon contents in the reduced samples were also determined.