1. Introduction
Magnesite ore is the most important source of magnesium, which is a key element for maintaining the human body in a balance of electrolytes, controlling nerve, muscle and other metabolic functions. The process of extracting magnesium from magnesite ore requires a series of similar steps: mining, crushing, grinding, sieving, and concentration. The mining and crushing process involves breaking the ore into smaller fragments and mixing it with water, then the fragments are separated by physical separation techniques, such as jigging and vibratory techniques. The grinded ore particles are sieved to obtain a concentrate, which is then concentrated by gravity techniques such as jigging and/or flotation.
2. Beneficiation of Magnesite Ore
The magnesite ore beneficiation process begins with a primary crushing stage, in which the ore is crushed and reduced to a manageable size for further processing. This will depend on the characteristics of the ore, such as particle size and hardness, as well as the size of the processing plant. The crushed ore is then subjected to different processes, depending on the characteristics of the ore, in order to obtain a concentrate containing the desired magnesium oxide. The common beneficiation processes used for the magnesite ore include gravity separation, flotation, washing, leaching and magnetic separation.
Gravity separation is the most frequently used beneficiation process for magnesite ore. This technique involves allowing the ore to settle based on its density so that the lighter material floats and the heavier material falls to the bottom. Another popular gravity separation process is jigging, which utilizes a pulsating water stream to allow the particles of magnesite ore to be separated based on their specific gravity. Flotation involves the use of depressants and collectors to separate the desired magnesite ore particles from the host rock by either attachment or entrainment.
3. Concentration
In the concentration process, the concentrate is then subjected to another set of processing steps, which involves washing, leaching and magnetic separation. Washing is used to remove adhering gangue material from the surface of the concentrate and to remove any remaining fine particles. Leaching is a process that uses chemicals to remove the desired magnesium from the concentrates. The leachable components (magnesium and other elements) are separated from the insoluble compounds through a filtration process and collected. Magnetic separation is used to separate the concentrate according to its magnetic properties. This is done by subjecting the concentrate to a magnetic field in the presence of a medium such as water, in order to separate components that possess different magnetic response. The concentrate containing the desired magnesium is then passed on to the final step, which involves processing it into a usable form.
4. Conclusion
The process of extracting magnesium from magnesite ore involves several steps including mining, crushing, grinding, sieving, and concentration. Each of these steps has to be completed correctly in order to produce a magnesium rich end-product. Beneficiation processes like gravity separation, flotation, washing, leaching, and magnetic separation have been used to concentrate the desirable magnesium from the host rock. The leached components can be separated using a filtration process and the concentrate can then be processed into a form that is usable.
