Surface modification and column flotation of a massive ilmenite ore

The main problems with ilmenite flotation in impeller-type flotation machines are the poor flotation behaviour of ilmenite and the negative effect of slimes. These cause high ilmenite losses in tailings even when a large dosage of fatty acid and fuel oil is consumed. In this study, microwave radiation pre-treatment and ilmenite surface activation were used to modify the surface properties of a massive ilmenite ore sample from Norway to improve ilmenite flotability. A column cell was used to minimize the negative effect of slimes on ilmenite separation efficiency. When ilmenite flotation was performed in a I litre Denver cell, the flotation recovery of titanium dioxide from the ilmenite ore sample was only 68.5% (31.1% TiO2) under conventional flotation conditions. After microwave radiation pre-treatment for three minutes at 2600 W and 2.45 GHz, the ferrous ions on ilmenite particle surfaces were converted into ferric ions; hence, the recovery increased from 68.5% to 86.8%. The concentrate grade increased from 31.1% TiO2 to 32.1% TiO2. In ilmenite activation flotation, Pb2+ ions can be selectively adsorbed on to ilmenite particle surfaces as active sites and therefore enhance the adsorption of oleate ions on ilmenite surfaces. With the addition of 60 g/ton Pb(NO3)(2), ilmenite flotation recovery increased from 68.5% to 85.1%. However, the quality of ilmenite concentrates was not improved due to the negative effect of slimes. After a two stage cleaning, the grade of ilmenite concentrates was only about 31% TiO2. The combination of microwave radiation pre-treatment and the application of a column cell overcame both problems of poor flotability and the negative effect of slimes. When the Denver cell was replaced by a column cell and the massive ilmenite ore sample was pre-treated using microwave radiation for three minutes, the ilmenite concentrate grade increased from 31.1% TiO2 to 42.9% TiO2 and the titanium dioxide recovery increased from 68.5% to 90.7%. The ilmenite recovery for the untreated ore sample using microwave radiation was only 65.4% in the column cell flotation, and the grade of ilmenite concentrate was only 32.3% TiO2.