Benefication of low-grade chromite ores of abandoned mine at Topraktepe, Beyşehir, SW Turkey

Optimum enriching possibilities of chromite ores from the abandoned Topraktepe mine were investigated. To obtain the best enriching method(s), shaking table, multi gravity separator, humprey spiral and jigging tests were tested. The best grades for Cr2O3 are 55.65% by shaking table, 57.52% by multigravity separator, 54.58 % by humprey spiral test and 50.68 % by jigging. To provide these results, the particle sizes of the ore are -0.3 to 0.212 mm for shaking table, -0.106 to 0.075 mm for multi gravity separator, -0.3 to 0.212 mm for humprey spiral and -2 to 1 mm for jigging. Regarding the best grades obtained, the recoveries for shaking table, multi gravity separator, humprey spiral and jigging methods are 85.38 %, 79.83 %, 94.89 % and 87.58 % respectively. The results of these tests show that a further recovery of remaining 500 000 tons of ore could be possible from the abandoned Topraktepe chromite deposit.