Mineralogical Characterization Applied to Iron Ore Tailings from the Desliming Stage with Emphasis on Quantitative Electron Microscopy (QEM)

The search for alternatives that minimize the generation of tailings and enable their reuse, leads to characterization studies with the objective of a better understanding of the physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of iron ore tailings. The increase in demand for high-quality ore overlapping ore extraction with increasingly lower iron concentration levels, is part of the challenge of mineral exploitation. In view of the aforementioned needs, a more detailed characterization of the tailings contributes to the improvement of the mineral processing stage and the reuse of the generated tailings. To this end, an analysis of the characteristics of the tailings was carried out through physical, chemical and mineralogical characterization, with emphasis on quantitative electron microscopy - QEM. The tests revealed that the predominant phases are hematite and quartz and, to a lesser extent, goethite, gibbsite and kaolinite. As for the degree of release, hematite/magnetite has 88.13% of its particles totally free, 0.53% associated with quartz and 6.77% associated with goethite. The chemical composition is 32.29% Fe, 47.92% SiO₂, 2.76% Al₂O₃, and 2.14% PPI. In this scenario, mineralogical characterization, as a main component of geometallurgy, makes it possible to propose alternatives that improve the ore beneficiation process and the reuse of tailings.

Keywords:
Iron ore; mineralogical characterization; quantitative electron microscopy