Influence of particle size on the magnetism of magnetite and the development of an energy-efficient three-product magnetic separator

ABSTRACT

The magnetism of minerals plays an important role in magnetic agglomeration. In this paper, the relationship between the magnetism of magnetite ore and particle size was revealed by mineral liberation analyzer (MLA) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) tests. With decreasing fineness, the specific susceptibility of the liberated magnetite decreased and its coercivity increased, and the difference in magnetism between liberated magnetite and rich interlocking particles decreased. Based on the above conclusion, a three-product magnetic separator with rotatable magnetic system, dispersed screen, and fluid drag was developed to simultaneously separate liberated magnetite and discard gangue minerals in a short process.

KEYWORDS:

• Magnetite
• particle size
• liberation
• magnetism
• three-product magnetic separator

Acknowledgements

Linrui Ding and Xianwei Zhang helped initiate this work. Cui Changzhi helped collect samples of magnetite ore, and Zhang Chen reviewed the draft manuscript and provided valuable suggestions for improving this paper; their contributions are highly acknowledged. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments, which helped to improve this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the scientific research project of the Liaoning Provincial Department of Education (2017LNQN21) and by the Open Foundation of Academician Workstation of the University of Science and Technology Liaoning (USTLYSG201802).