Recovery enhancement of magnetite fines in magnetic separation

Low intensity wet magnetic separation is not very effective for particles less than 10 μm. The magnitude of the fluid drag force exceeds the magnetic force exerted on such particles. Thus, fine magnetic particles are usually not picked up effectively by magnetic separators, resulting in the loss of valuable minerals. Magnetic separation applied to ultrafine magnetite particles after size enlargement by polymer flocculation were found to be effective in reducing loss of fine magnetite particles.