Reaction phenomena of iron oxide leaching in an evaporative acid bake reactor
Master Thesis
2012
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University of Cape Town
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Namakwa Sands is a heavy mineral mining and beneficiation business within Tronox, and produces two major products, zircon (zr02.Si02 99.9%) and rutile (Ti02 99.9%) at a combined annual rate of 140kt. The heavy mineral concentrates are exported to international markets to make specialist coatings for the paints and ceramics industries. The ceramic industry is very strict on the purity of the minerals used. Namakwa Sands prides itself in being able to produce zircon and rutile at these requirements; however, strict requirements, especially in terms of Fe impurities (Fe203 content in zircon concentrate must be < 600ppm), limit the productivity and come at a cost to recovery. The concentration and separation of heavy minerals is a complex process, which utilizes conductivity differences between minerals. Zircon coated with iron oxides (Fe203, FeOOH) reports as more conductive during electrostatic separation, which can result in a zircon particle to behave like a rutile particle and in this way cause both products (rutile and zircon) to become off specification.
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Ledgerwood, J. 2012. Reaction phenomena of iron oxide leaching in an evaporative acid bake reactor. University of Cape Town.