Beneficiation of Iron Ores Iron ore is a mineral which is used...

Beneficiation of Iron Ores

Iron ore is a mineral which is used after extraction and processing for the production of iron and steel. The main ores of iron usually contain Fe2O3 (70 % iron, hematite) or Fe3O4 (72 % iron. magnetite). Ores are normally associated with unwanted gangue material. Grade of iron ore is usually determined by the total Fe content in the ore. Run of mines ores after dry or wet sizing, if it contains normally greater than 62 % of Fe, are known as ‘natural ore’ or ‘direct shipping ore’ (DSO). These ores can be directly used in the production of iron and steel.  All other ores need beneficiation and certain processing before they are used in the production of iron and steel.

Low grade iron ores cannot be used as such for the production of iron and steel and need to be upgraded to reduce its gangue content and increase its Fe content. The process adopted to upgrade the Fe content of iron ore is known as iron ore beneficiation (IOB).

However, Iron ores from different sources have their own peculiar mineralogical characteristics and require the specific beneficiation and metallurgical treatment to get the best product out of it. Also for effective beneficiation treatment, effective crushing, grinding, and screening of the ore is necessary for which suitable crushing, grinding, and screening technologies are to be employed. The choice of the beneficiation treatment depends on the nature of the gangue present and its association with the ore structure. Several methods/techniques such as washing, jigging, magnetic separation, gravity separation, and flotation etc. are used to enhance the Fe content of the Iron ore and to reduce its gangue content. These techniques are used in various combinations for the beneficiation of iron ores. For beneficiation of a particular iron ore the emphasis is usually to develop a cost effective flow sheet incorporating necessary crushing, grinding, screening and beneficiating techniques which are necessary for the upgrading of the iron ore.

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The company reported to the market that the Beneficiation phase of the testwork has been completed on schedule.

In other words there was no issue with the Beneficiation process, again in other words they were able to upgrade the ore to proceeed to the smelting phase, which of course is good news.