Mineralogy, liberation and leaching characteristics of iron oxide phases in an Indian diaspore sample

Abstract

The removal of iron from an Indian diaspore sample was studied using magnetic separation and leaching techniques aided by an in-depth mineralogical characterization study involving quantitative mineralogical evaluation by scanning electron microscope (QEMSCAN), electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The characterization studies indicate that extremely fine-sized hematite grains are associated with several other mineral phases in a complex manner with around 60% of the hematite not liberated even below the size of 38 mu m limiting the scope of physical separation processes to remove the iron. Wet high intensity magnetic separation (WHIMS) studies reveal that only 49% of iron can be removed. Further, leaching studies using oxalic acid suggest that around 76% of the iron can be removed under conditions such as a solid to liquid ratio of 0.05:1, a temperature of 90 degrees C, a time period of 120 min and an acid concentration of 1 mol/L. The dissolution of iron in oxalic acid is found to be controlled by chemical reaction and the activation energy is calculated as 35.15 kJ/mol.