Optimization of Line of Magnetite Recovery from Wet Tailings by Creating Second Medium Intensity Magnetic Field (Case Study: Processing Plant of Gol-e-Gohar Hematite)

The primary raw material of the steel industry is iron. This paper aims to optimize magnetite recovery from wet tailings by increasing the iron content in the concentrate of the line. To manage tailings, a Wet Tailing Processing (WTP) line constructed at Gole-Gohar Iron Ore Company to recover the magnetite. The dominant crystalline phases in these tailings were quartz, albite, talc, hematite, and calcite. The line feed is 45 microns, which is not suitable for the gravity method. Thus, separation can achieve using only the magnetic method. Because of the high iron content in the tailings, a wet magnetic separator is used. According to the results, the proposed medium-intensity separator and the associated circuit modifications increase iron recovery from 7 to 30 percent; resulting in 150 tons of annual production; preventing loss of iron through concentrator plant tailings, and increasing the Blain number by 50 to 100 units in the hematite plant. Furthermore, water consumption is significantly reduced by replacing old wet tailings of the concentrator plant with new wet tailings as the feed, which is another significant achievement of this research. Instead of fresh water, saline water with flow rate of 250 cubic meters per hour are used.