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Enrichment of Rare Earth and Niobium from a REE-Nb-Fe Associated Ore via Reductive Roasting Followed by Magnetic Separation
- Source :
- JOM. 68:567-576
- Publication Year :
- 2015
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2015.
-
Abstract
- REE-Nb-Fe ore is a typical refractory resource rich in valuable elements. In this article, coal-based reductive roasting followed by magnetic separation is proposed to recover rare earth element (REE), niobium (Nb), and powdered metallic iron (Fe) concentrate from a REE-Nb-Fe raw concentrate containing 31.9% total iron grade (TFe), 3.2% rare earth oxides (REO), and 2.9% Nb2O5. Sodium sulfate is employed to enhance the reduction of iron oxide and to facilitate the growth of metallic iron grains. A magnetic fraction with TFe of 89.3%, iron metallization of 95.8% and iron recovery of 91.5% is obtained by magnetic separation after the raw concentrate is reduced to 1100°C for 120 min in the presence of 15 wt.% sodium sulfate. The contents of rare earth and niobium in the nonmagnetic fraction are enriched to 5.4% (REO) and 4.6% (Nb2O5) with recoveries of 96.1% and 95.8%, respectively. The TFe in the nonmagnetic fraction obtained after the separation is decreased to 4.8% accordingly. The reactions between sodium sulfate and SiO2/Al2O3 enhance the reduction by destroying the mineral structure. The separation of iron from rare earth and niobium is highly improved as metallic iron grains grow markedly when roasted in the presence of sodium sulfate.
- Subjects :
- Rare-earth element
Metallurgy
General Engineering
Niobium
Magnetic separation
Iron oxide
chemistry.chemical_element
Fraction (chemistry)
02 engineering and technology
020501 mining & metallurgy
Metal
chemistry.chemical_compound
0205 materials engineering
chemistry
visual_art
Sodium sulfate
visual_art.visual_art_medium
General Materials Science
Roasting
Nuclear chemistry
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15431851 and 10474838
- Volume :
- 68
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- JOM
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........2a55d6ba86d2995485c0425c325d354f