Trans Indian Inst Met
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12666-020-01878-z
REVIEW
Existing and New Processes for Beneficiation of Indian Iron ores
Bisweswar Das1 • Swagat S. Rath1
Received: 25 April 2019 / Accepted: 17 January 2020
Ó The Indian Institute of Metals - IIM 2020
Abstract The iron ore industries of India are expected to
bring new technologies to cater to the need of the
tremendous increase in demand for quality ores for steel
making. With the high-grade ores depleting very fast, the
focus is on the beneficiation of low-grade resources.
However, most of these ores do not respond well to the
conventional beneficiation techniques used to achieve a
suitable concentrate for steel and other metallurgical
industries. The present communication discusses the ben-
eficiation practices in the Indian context and the recent
developments in alternative processing technologies such
as reduction roasting, microwave-assisted heating, mag-
netic carrier technology and bio-beneficiation. Besides, the
use of new collectors in iron ore flotation is also
highlighted.
Keywords Iron ore  Beneficiation  Reduction roasting 
Microwave heating  Ionic liquid 
Magnetic carrier technology
1 Introduction
Iron ore and steel industries are now the backbones of the
Indian economy, providing direct and indirect employment
to over 2.6 million people. The development of this
industry is measured by the quantity of steel produced and
Bisweswar Das : Retired Chief Scientist
& Swagat S. Rath
ssrath@immt.res.in
1
CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology,
Bhubaneswar 751013, India
consumed, which depends on the characteristics of the iron
ore produced. Around 98% of the total mined ore is used in
steelmaking by removing silica, alumina, calcium, mag-
nesium, sulfur and phosphorous through different techno-
logical routes. Oxygen and the preferred chemical partner
carbon are removed in subsequent steel melting steps. The
other materials such as nickel, manganese, chromium,
tungsten and vanadium in the form of ferroalloys are added
in steel processes to achieve the desired properties for
specific uses. As steel is being used in construction, rail-
ways, industries and day-to-day household uses, the iron
ore produced should be of high quality with least
impurities.
The National Steel Policy (NSP)-2017, Ministry of
Steel, Government of India, aims at producing 300 million
tons of crude steel by 2030–31 for which around 500
million tons of good quality iron ore is required [1].
However, the high-grade iron ore resources, which are the
critical inputs of steel production, are depleting day by day.
Therefore, Indian steel industries have to depend on the
utilization of the existing fines, slimes and other low-grade
ores lying over the years in the mine sites. Besides that, the
document ‘‘Vision 2020’’ published by Indian Bureau of
Mines [2] has stated that the threshold of iron ore mining is
45% Fe. Accordingly, iron ores with minimum 45% Fe
cannot be rejected or dumped by any means. As the cutoff
grade of iron ore is reduced to 45% Fe, the availability of
iron ore resources has increased substantially. However, at
the same time, Indian iron ore mining industries will have
to heavily depend on the advanced beneficiation techniques
to use such low-grades ores in iron making.
Low-grade iron ores are generally beneficiated to meet
the quality requirement of steel industries. For example, the
average iron grade in China is * 30% Fe, but the ores are
mostly magnetite with high silica and low alumina [3].
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Hence, low- and high-intensity magnetic separation tech-
niques are being employed to get a suitable magnetite
concentrate. However, the iron ores from different mines
are very dissimilar in their chemical and mineralogical
characteristics and therefore require a unique combination
of beneficiation units to get a suitable concentrate out
of them. The choice of beneficiation technique also
depends on the liberation characteristics of the desired and
gangue constituents. The beneficiation techniques such as
scrubbing, classification, gravity separation, magnetic
separation and flotation are generally utilized to enhance
the quality of the iron ores. In India, beneficiation is carried
out by washing, jigging or classification techniques. During
the process of washing, three products, mainly lumps, fines
and slimes are being produced. The lumps of
- 40 ? 10 mm and fines of -10 ? 0.21 mm size with
specific chemical and physical specifications are fed to the
blast furnace and sintering plant, respectively. However,
the slimes with below 0.21 mm size are rejected into the
tailing pond without any further utility. Around 10 million
tons of slimes containing 48–62% Fe are being generated
every year during the washing of hematite ores [4, 5].
These slimes or super fines are mostly lateritic; miner-
alogically dominated by goethite and limonites, and espe-
cially with a high amount of alumina, in the order of 10%.
This is mainly due to the reason that most hematite iron
ores of India are very soft, generating around 35–40% of
fines and slime during the process of mining, beneficiation
and preparation of sized ore. The tailings and slimes gen-
erated from the hematite ores are 10–30% of the run of the
mines and are discarded as waste [4]. The beneficiation of
iron ore fines and slimes has not only received attention in
India but also in many iron-producing countries in the
world due to the fast depletion of the high-grade ores.
Besides low-grade ores, fines and slimes, banded
hematite quartzite (BHQ) and banded hematite jasper
(BHJ) are the other prominent low-grade iron ore resources
found in India. They contain around 35–45% Fe, 40–55%
SiO2 with 1–3% Al2O3 [6]. The constituent minerals in
these low-grade iron ore are mostly hematite and quartz,
and they are liberated at extremely fine sizes due to the
intergrowth of hematite and quartz. During the mining of
hematite ores, large quantities of such low-grade ores are
generated and kept unutilized due to the lack of appropriate
beneficiation technologies. These ores, which are not yet
explored, will hopefully find an important role in meeting
the objectives of the National Steel Policy of India. In this
context, the present communication summarizes the bene-
ficiation practices in Indian iron ore mines and the recent
developments in alternative processing technologies.
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2 Problems Associated with Indian Iron Ores
Most of the integrated steel plants prefer to use high and
medium grade ores in the form of lumps and fines. The
sponge iron plants require only high-grade ores with cer-
tain specific size (- 18 ? 5 mm). However, due to the
supply of lower grade iron ores, and higher levels of
impurities like silica and alumina, the efficiencies of
sponge iron plants as well as Indian blast furnaces have
been at lower levels. The adverse effects of alumina in
blast furnaces such as higher flux consumption, viscous
slag formation and higher coke consumption are well
documented in the form of several monograms and tech-
nical papers [7–9]. Moreover, the alumina part, mainly
contributed by clay, laterite material and gibbsite, is inti-
mately associated with the iron minerals and hence not
easily amenable to simple scrubbing and washing.
The majority of the iron ores in India are also associated
with hydroxyl-bearing minerals such as goethite and
limonite. The goethite content varies from 10–50% in low-
grade hematite iron ores. These mined ores contain higher
amounts of impurities like silica, alumina, phosphorus,
sulfur and alkalis. Due to high water content in the ore, the
loss on ignition (LOI) in the beneficiated iron ore con-
centrate increases. It has been observed that when the LOI
percentage is more than 2.5%, it is not suitable for pel-
letization using available conventional technologies. The
other elements, such as phosphorus and sulfur, which are
associated with low-grade iron ores, are regarded as the
deleterious contaminants. Phosphorous, even at the con-
centrations of as little as 0.5%, is not desirable as it makes
the steel brittle. Similarly, a higher value of sulfur lowers
the ductility and other mechanical properties of the finished
steel. These elements, present in an ore, are difficult to be
removed during fluxing or direct smelting. Again, the
impurities like Na and K in the form of alkalis, attack the
furnace lining. Due to the poor quality of ore, the blast
furnace always encounters break downs, lower reducibility
and melting behavior of the iron ores. Hence, to overcome
these associated problems, lots of studies are required to
utilize the low-grade iron ores, fines and slimes.
3 Different Methods of Iron Ore Beneficiation
A typical flow sheet for iron ore beneficiation plant uti-
lizing crushing, scrubbing, screening, classification and
dewatering is shown in Fig. 1.
Washing and scrubbing methods are generally used in
iron ores to remove the friable and soft lateritic materials,
and limonitic clay particles adhered to the ore body.
Scrubbing is also used in the case of hard and porous ores,
Trans Indian Inst Met
Fig. 1 A typical flowsheet for
iron ore beneficiation plant
which have cavities filled with clayey materials. In the case
of the fines of below 10 mm size, horizontal screw clas-
sifier separates coarse and fine material by tumbling action
in a tilted vessel causing the removal of fines and slimes
adhered to the surface. Most of the iron ore washing plants
of India use scrubber and screw classifier for the separation
of coarse and fines. Besides that, for classifier fines,
hydrocyclones are used for concentration by separating
coarse material as most of the gangue constituents are
found accumulated in the finer sizes. It has often been
observed in most of the washing plants of India that the
maximum gangue that can be removed by washing is
limited to 25 to 30% only. The free quartz particles are
better separated in comparison with the alumina-bearing
minerals.
Jigging is a gravity concentration technique, where iron
ore is separated into heavy and light density fractions. The
jigging technology employs water as the separation med-
ium and can be applied to different ores, coal, slags as well
as any other material that has a marked difference in
density between the wanted and gangue constituents [10].
Jigging concentration technique, however, gives a sound
basis of separation, if the ore is sufficiently liberated at the
coarser size range [11]. Besides that, the performance of
the jig is greatly influenced by the operating variables such
as water rate, pulsating stroke and amplitude. Most iron
ores of India contain hematite and goethite as the major
iron-bearing minerals and minor amounts of kaolinite,
gibbsite and quartz. The differences in specific gravities
between these minerals afford a method of their separation
by gravity concentration technique. Barsua iron ore mines,
a captive iron ore mines of Rourkela Steel Plant, has
adopted Remco Jigs for the beneficiation of low-grade iron
ore fines at a size range of - 8 ? 2 mm. Similarly, a Batac
jig has been installed to reduce alumina content from the
Noamundi iron ore fines of Tata Steel and the Apic jig used
in iron ore mines of South Africa has confirmed the sep-
aration of fine ferrous ores. However, the operation of any
jig is an art primarily based on experience, and the screen
requires periodic cleaning to prevent the build-up of coarse
heavies. The process is not suitable for separation of fines
and moreover, uses a huge amount of water.
In iron ore beneficiation plants, the spiral concentration
technique is being used to obtain a fine concentrate. In
spiral separators, the separation of heavy and light minerals
takes place in streaming currents. The equilibrium between
the centrifugal force outwards and the gravitational force
downwards facilitates the separation of particles based on
their density and size. The feed size for spiral concentration
in Indian iron ore industry is in the range of 0.15 mm to
2 mm. It is typically operated at a pulp density of 25 to
30% and mostly processed after the classification of the
super fines using a hydrocyclone. The Kirondal iron ore
plant of Essar Steel Limited has successfully applied the
spiral technique for the beneficiation of iron ore slimes to
achieve a pellet feed concentrate. There are other gravity
concentration units such as Table, Floatex density separa-
tor, multi-gravity separators (MGS), Falcon concentrator,
Kelsey jig and Knelson concentrator, which are yet to be
adopted in Indian plants.
Magnetic separation technologies are applied to take
the advantage of the difference in the magnetic
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susceptibilities of the constituent minerals in an ore. Low-
intensity magnetic separators use a magnetic field strength
between 1000 to 3000 Gauss and are typically used on
magnetite ores as an effective method of separation. High-
intensity magnetic separators employ higher field strength
up to 20,000 Gauss. This method is applied to separate
weakly magnetic iron minerals such as hematite and goe-
thite from the non-magnetic silica and alumina-bearing
gangue materials. In many iron ore mines, wet high-in-
tensity magnetic separation is being preferred in the con-
centration of low-grade hematite ores to avoid the flotation
methods. The other important factor is the selection of
magnetic separator which can capture the hydroxyl-bearing
iron minerals such as goethite and limonite that are feebly
magnetic.
Froth flotation is one of the most widely used selective
separation processes for the beneficiation of finely liberated
low-grade ores. It utilizes the differences in the hydrophobic
properties between the minerals. Iron ore collectors used in
the flotation processes can be broadly classified into two
categories, such as anionic and cationic collectors. Long-
chain fatty acids and their salts are mostly used as the anionic
collectors for floating the iron minerals, while the cationic
collectors, used in reverse flotation, mostly contain primary
aliphatic amines, diamines and quaternary ammonium salts.
Besides that, the applications of chelating agents, solvent
extractants, oils, plant seeds and many unconventional col-
lectors are reported in mineral flotation [12–15].
Although flotation is being practised to produce a suit-
able iron concentrate in many iron ore producing countries
of the world, there is no commercial operational flotation
plant in India to beneficiate the low-grade ores, banded
ores, fines or slimes. This is due to the complex nature of
the Indian ores, where the traditional collectors yield
meager recovery. It is, therefore, essential to develop new
reagents, which can replace conventional reagents and can
be highly selective for complex ores.
Selective flocculation is the selective agglomeration of
ore particles in the form of floc. In this process, the parti-
cles are kept in full suspension, and the flocculant after
being added to the dispersed slurry adsorbs on the surface
of the desired mineral helping it settle down. The undesired
components like quartz and clay, on the other hand, remain
in suspensions. The flocculation technique is applied in
mineral processing for the recovery of valuable minerals
from the associated gangues when the minerals are liber-
ated at a high degree of fineness. Cliff’s Tilden plant in
Cleveland, USA, is the only iron ore beneficiation plant,
where selective flocculation technique, using degraded
starch as the flocculant, has been applied to produce pellet
grade concentrate from a feed containing around 32% Fe
[16]. The plant has a capacity of processing 10 million tons
and is in operation since 1975. The technique is also
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applied to low-grade iron ore, as well as iron tailings to
recover additional iron fines and to improve the overall iron
recovery. However, the scenarios in the case of Indian
slimes are entirely different. Here, the challenge is the
separation of iron oxide minerals from the aluminum-
bearing minerals like gibbsite and clay. Recently, suc-
cessful pilot plant trials of selective flocculation of iron ore
slimes were done at Noamundi mines. An iron concentrate
assaying 65.3% Fe and 2.5% alumina with a yield of 80.4%
from a slime containing 60.3% Fe and 4.8% alumina could
be produced. The corresponding tailing sample contained
less than 39.7% Fe. On the other hand, a sample assaying
53.4% Fe and 7.3% alumina could be upgraded to a con-
centrate having a Fe grade of 63.5% Fe with 3.1% alumina
while the yield was 63.5% [17].
3.1 Technological Developments
It is often observed that many low-grade ores, fines and
banded ores do not respond well to conventional benefi-
ciation techniques due to the complex mineralogy and poor
liberation of mineral values. Many such low-grade iron ore
resources of India require alternate beneficiation approa-
ches. Some notable efforts in this direction reported for
Indian iron ore resources are discussed below.
3.2 Reduction Roasting
In reduction roasting, the iron oxides present in the ore are
reduced to magnetite phase and recovered by low-intensity
magnetic separation technique. During the reduction pro-
cess, the heat received by the ore causes fractures that
ultimately help in the liberation of the iron phases during
grinding. The process is advantageous because, despite
poor liberation of minerals and mineralogical constraints, it
is possible to achieve a higher yield of iron ore concentrate
in comparison with any physical separation method. Fig-
ure 2 presents a schematic diagram of the process of
reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation.
In the reduction process, carbon reacts with oxygen in
the air and is converted to carbon dioxide, which further
reacts with carbon to form carbon monoxide. During the
reduction process, the dispersion of the ore material
increases, the bonds between the mineral particles get
weakened, and as a result, iron oxide particles get reduced
to the lower state under the reducing atmosphere. The
reactions involved in the magnetizing roasting process are
given below.
C þ O2 ! CO2
CO2 þ C ! 2CO
3Fe2 O3 þ CO ! 2 Fe3 O4 þ CO2
Trans Indian Inst Met
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of
the process of reduction roasting
and magnetic separation
In recent times, there have been many investigations on
reduction roasting and magnetic separation techniques
applied to Indian ores which are otherwise not responsive
to conventional techniques. The technique, when applied to
a low-grade Indian iron ore with 51.3% Fe, can generate a
concentrate containing 63.3% Fe at 79% recovery [18].
Charcoal is used as a reductant in this work. BHJ ore,
which is known to be a difficult-to-treat iron ore, can be
upgraded to a concentrate having 66% Fe at an iron
recovery of 72% using reduction roasting-magnetic sepa-
ration [19]. There are some other reports of successful
application of reduction roasting process for low-grade
Indian iron ores [20]. Other than these, there have been
some useful publications using industrial wastes and bio-
mass as alternative reductants. Blast furnace flue dust,
dolochar, biomass briquettes and waste coconut shell have
been successfully applied as reductants for different low-
grade iron ores to achieve acceptable iron concentrates
[21–24]. However, the results are yet to prove their via-
bility on a pilot scale before the process can be put into
actual industrial practice.
3.3 Microwave-Assisted Heating
Microwave energy is non-ionizing electromagnetic radia-
tion with frequency varying from 300 to 300 GHz. How-
ever, the main operating frequency in majority of the
countries is 2.45 GHz [25]. The advantages of microwave
heating such as material selectivity and rapid heating have
been applied to some mineral engineering applications
such as (i) weakening of ore with complex mineralogy (ii)
grinding (iii) carbon thermal reduction of oxide ores and
(iv) drying and hydration roasting.
Microwave heating of an ore having microwave-ab-
sorbing minerals in a non-absorbing gangue matrix causes
thermal stress. It helps in forming micro-fractures along the
mineral grain boundaries and allows much easier liberation
of the ore during grinding. Therefore, many researchers
studied different aspects of microwave-assisted liberation
and comminution for different types of ores and minerals.
In this context, Kumar et al. [26] studied the influence of
microwave-based pre-treatment on the grindability of an
Indian iron ore. Development of micro-fractures was
observed as a result of microwave treatment, while the
XRD analysis reported the enhancement in the crystallinity
of the sample. The grindability test revealed that the
microwave treated iron ore grinded more rapidly than the
untreated ore. In another work, Singh et al. [27] found that
the microwave pre-treatment followed by milling of hard
and banded iron ores reduced the 80% passing size of the
ground product by 20.83%.
Microwave-assisted heating can enhance the carbon
thermal phase transformation of hematite ores to magnetite
with much faster kinetics compared to the conventional
reduction roasting process. Several Indian workers have
attempted microwave-assisted reduction roasting studies of
low-grade Indian iron ores. In this regard, Rath et al. [28]
used microwave roasting followed by magnetic separation
to achieve an iron ore concentrate of 63–64% Fe with more
than 80% iron recovery from an iron grade of 57% Fe. In
addition to the advantage of a much lesser time of roasting,
it was observed that, unlike the conventional route, the
microwave roasting route did not produce unwanted iron
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silicate phases like fayalite. Microwave heating was also
applied to a BHJ ore, wherein an iron-enriched concentrate
with 61% Fe at 50% yield could be achieved from a feed of
38% Fe [29]. Similarly, microwave-assisted carbon thermal
reduction followed by magnetic separation was success-
fully applied on a BHJ ore assaying * 37% Fe [30]. At
conditions such as a power of 720 W, a charcoal dosage of
9% and a roasting period of 8 min, a concentrate of *
61.6% Fe at * 73.4% Fe recovery could be obtained.
Sunil et al. [31] investigated the microwave-based reduc-
tion of an iron ore slime sample having 56.1% Fe. Out of
four different types of reductants such as coconut shell,
goat dung, cow dung and charcoal, coconut shell showed
the most promising result where an iron ore concentrate of
64.3% Fe with a total Fe recovery of 97% could be
obtained.
Most of these studies using microwave energy were
carried out at a very small scale of 10–50 g using domestic
microwave ovens. Hence, it is essential to carry out these
studies on a large scale to prove their applicability com-
mercially. Moreover, the microwave-assisted reduction
roasting studies were carried out using charcoal, a known
microwave absorber, as a reductant. Hence, the application
of non-coking coal as a reductant in the microwave-as-
sisted reduction needs to be explored considering the lim-
itations of the use of charcoal in a large-scale operation.
3.4 Magnetic Carrier Technology
Magnetic carriers are magnetic materials which bind
selectively on some paramagnetic or non-magnetic mate-
rials to make them separable using magnetic separation.
Various carrier materials such as fine natural magnetite,
colloidal magnetite or magnetic beads have been developed
to selectively attach with the desired mineral species
through specific binding mechanisms such as electrostatic
adsorption or chemical attachment. The adhesion of the
magnetic material is influenced by many factors such as the
electrical charge of the minerals and magnetic material, the
presence of adsorbed surfactant and the electrolytic con-
centration of the pulp. This technique, known as magnetic
carrier technology, has been applied in the separation of
many weakly magnetic minerals [32, 33]. It has also been
applied to the water treatment process by employing finely
divided magnetite and polymeric reagents [34, 35]. The
commercially established SIROFLOC process being used
for wastewater treatment also works on this technology
[36].
This technique was applied, for the first time, by Prakash
et al. [37, 38], for the recovery of hematite fines from
quartz and corundum. The studies carried out as a function
of pH, particle size, magnetic colloidal concentration,
magnetic field strength and the ratio of hematite: quartz
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indicated that synthetic mixtures assaying around 45–72%
Fe2O3 could be upgraded to 90–92% with a recovery level
of 90–96%. The coating of colloidal magnetite was
obtained by controlling the surface properties of the par-
ticle. The studies were also extended for the recovery of
iron values from iron ore slimes, silica from calcite and
iron from fly ash [39, 40]. Recently, Singh et al. used this
technology for Barsua iron ore slime assaying 56% Fe and
obtained an iron concentrate of 62.6% Fe, 2.0% SiO2 and
3.5% Al2O3 with 72% recovery at a colloidal magnetite
concentration of 10–40 g/t applying 12 kG magnetic
intensity [41]. The study was also carried out for an Indian
BHJ ore having 47.8% Fe, 25.6% SiO2 and 2.30% Al2O3.
The ore after being coated with colloidal magnetite pro-
duced an iron concentrate containing 60.2% Fe with an
iron recovery of 56% [42]. A schematic diagram of the
magnetic carrier technology as applicable for separating
the iron minerals from the gangue is displayed in Fig. 3.
The comparative data of iron grade and recovery, as
obtained in the case of some low-grade Indian iron ore
resources, highlighting the advantages of the alternative
processes such as reduction roasting, microwave-assisted
reduction roasting and magnetic carrier technology are
summarized in Table 1.
3.5 Developments of New Reagents in Iron Ore
Beneficiation
Fatty acids like oleic acids and amines like dodecylamine
are known to be the conventional collectors for iron ore
flotation. However, there is a need for developing new
collectors that will be more selective for the targeted
phases to address the issue of liberation and enhancement
of yield. In this context, a few investigations by Indian
authors have been reported in the literature. Quaternary
ammonium-based ionic liquids have been found as better
replacements of amines in the reverse flotation of BHQ
iron ore. Aliquat-336 (N- Methyl-N,N, N-trioctyloctan-1-
ammonium chloride) was used as the collector for the
flotation of an Indian BHQ ore [43]. The flotation studies of
the ore containing * 38% Fe showed that at an Aliquat-
336 concentration of 8.26910-5 M; 64.1% of Fe with
60.3% Fe recovery could be achieved at slightly alkaline
pH. Hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction between
Aliquat-336 and quartz were found to be responsible for
the collector–mineral attachment. Similarly, trioctyl-
methylammonium salicylate (TOMAS) was found to be an
efficient quartz collector in the reverse flotation of a low-
grade BHQ ore [44]. The molecular modeling studies
(Fig. 4) of the interaction of quartz with dodecylamine
(DDA) and TOMAS indicated comparatively stronger
adsorption in the case of TOMAS. Moreover, to achieve
the same floatability, the concentration of the collector
Trans Indian Inst Met

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of

magnetic carrier technology

Table 1 Comparison of conventional and alternative beneficiation techniques reported for low-grade Indian iron ores
Iron ore type Conventional beneficiation Alternative beneficiation References

Low-grade iron 61.3% Fe with 80% Fe recovery using a beneficiation 63–64% Fe with 88–90% Fe recovery through reduction [28]
ore with 57% circuit comprising scrubbing, screening, WHIMS roasting followed by LIMS & WHIMS
Fe and jigging 62–63% Fe with 84–85% Fe recovery using microwave
reduction roasting followed by LIMS & WHIMS.
Low-grade iron 61.4% Fe with 16.4% Fe recovery using WHIMS. 63.3% Fe with 79% Fe recovery using reduction roasting [18]
ore with 51.6% 59.9% Fe with 36.2% Fe recovery using flotation followed by magnetic separation
Fe
BHJ ore with 45.79% Fe with 64% Fe recovery using spiral 61.6% Fe with 73.4% recovery using microwave-assisted [30]
36.27% Fe concentration reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation
53% Fe at 94% Fe recovery using WHIMS
Iron ore slime 60.8% Fe at 84.4% Fe recovery using spiral 64.3% Fe with 97% Fe recovery using reduction roasting [31]
sample with concentration followed by magnetic separation
56.10% Fe 67% Fe at 99% recovery using microwave-assisted
reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation
BHQ ore with 53% Fe with 35% Fe recovery using WHIMS 52.95% Fe with 78.4% Fe recovery using [29]
32% Fe reduction roasting-magnetic separation 57.19% Fe with
31.84% Fe recovery using microwave roasting-
magnetic separation
Iron ore slime 62.4% Fe with 61.6% Fe recovery using WHIMS 62.6% Fe with 72% recovery using synthetic colloidal [41]
with 56% Fe magnetite and oleate colloidal coating followed by
HGMS
BHJ assaying 60.8% Fe with 51% Fe recovery using WHIMS 60.2% Fe with 56% Fe recovery using selective magnetic [42]
47.8% Fe coating followed by WHIMS

required was found less in the case of both Aliquat-336 and
TOMAS when compared to DDA.
In another study, the effect of alkyl chains attached to
the quaternary ammonium group in flotation of quartz was
investigated [45]. The force field-based calculations of the
ILs on quartz suggested stronger adsorption energy with an
increase in the number of carbon atoms in the chains.
Hydrophobicity of the adsorbed species, which decided the
extent of flotation, was correlated with the surface coverage
calculated from the molecular dynamics simulations
(Fig. 5). Tetrahexylammonium chloride (THEX) was
found to cover the maximum surface area of the quartz (1 0
1) plane helping in blocking of water molecules from
interacting with the surface OH groups. The calculations

123

Fig. 4 Geometry optimized
interaction complexes of
hydroxylated quartz (1 0 1) with
a dodecyl ammonium ion and
b tricaprylmethylammonium
ion. (Reprinted from reference
number 44 with permission
from Elsevier)
ascertained the IL-quartz interaction mechanism. These ILs
were found to result in better floatability at much lower
concentrations than the established collectors like dode-
cylamine (DDA) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide
(CTAB).
Apart from the quaternary ammonium group, some other
functional groups containing the base quaternary nitrogen
atom, such as imidazolium, pyridinium, were investigated
as the collector for quartz flotation [46]. The flotation
studies of BHQ ore using cetylpyridinium chloride and
benzyl dimethyl tetradecyl ammonium showed * 62–63%
Fe and * 75% Fe recovery. The recoveries were obtained
at a much lesser concentration of collector than that
required for flotation using conventional collectors like
DDA and CTAB.
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3.6 Bio-Beneficiation
Bio-beneficiation offers an economical, eco-friendly and
sustainable alternative for the recovery of minerals by
microorganisms. There are several microorganisms present
in iron ore deposits that act like reagents to separate the
selective desired mineral from the associated gangue con-
stituents. It brings about the removal of gangues, enriching
the desired mineral constituent mediated by several surface
chemical and physiochemical phenomenon. In the case of
iron ore, alumina and silica present are removed by using
heterotrophic microorganisms [47–53]. The application of
bio-organisms such as Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans in the benefi-
ciation of hematite ores has been reported [54, 55]. Several
other microorganisms including autotrophic and hetero-
trophic bacteria, fungi, yeast and algae can also be applied
Trans Indian Inst Met
Fig. 5 Maximum coverage of
C4–C12 NR4? amines as
calculated using molecular
dynamics simulations vis-á-vis
experimental quartz recoveries
Maximum Coverage/ Recovery (%)
at a concentration of
1.6 9 10-5M and pH 7.5
[TBUT: tetrabutylammonium,
TPEN: tetrapentylammonium,
THEX: tetrahexylammonium,
THEP: tetraheptylammonium,
TOCT: tetraoctylammonium,
TNON: tetranonylammonium
TDEC:
tetrakisdecylammonium,
TDOD:
tetradodecylammonium].
(Reprinted from reference
number 45 with permission
from Elsevier)
in iron ore beneficiation. Some specific bacteria such
as Mycobacterium phlei, Bacillus subtilis and Rhodococ-
cus opacus have been found useful in iron ore beneficiation
[56, 57]. Similarly, some surface active bacteria like My-
cobacterium phlei have shown to act as flotation collectors
and help in flocculation of hematite mineral. It is observed
that flotation is found to be active only at acidic pH
of * 2.5. [58]. In spite of some publications and reports in
the literature, the large-scale application of this process is
yet to be established.
4 Summary
The demand for iron ore has sharply increased to meet the
Indian national policy of enhancing the production of steel.
Due to the shortage of high-grade ores, different low-grade
ores need to be beneficiated to meet the quality require-
ment of steel industries. The conventional technologies
such as washing, jigging, magnetic separation, gravity
separation or floatation do not succeed in achieving the
required grade and recovery when the concerned ore has
complex mineralogical and liberation problems. It is
assumed that the future production of iron ore concentrate
would heavily depends on new technologies such as
reduction roasting, microwave-assisted heating, magnetic
carrier technology and bio-beneficiation.
The process of reduction roasting followed by magnetic
separation offers a simple flowsheet with higher iron grade
and recovery in comparison with physical separation pro-
cesses. Similarly, the incorporation of microwave energy in
the reduction roasting process enhances its performance
Recovery, % Max. Coverage, %
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Reagents
further. However, in the Indian context, both the investi-
gations are limited to lab-scale experimentation, and large-
scale studies with techno-economic feasibility yet to be
established. Magnetic carrier technology has been estab-
lished in the commercial-scale for wastewater treatment
but needs to be translated in iron ore beneficiation by
incorporating natural or colloidal magnetite. Similarly, bio-
beneficiation processes with gangue reducing bacteria have
to be studied at a much larger scale before they see the light
of the day. In general, all these new processes need large
scale or pilot plant trials to ascertain their commercial
viability and sustainability.
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to the Director, CSIR-
IMMT, Bhubaneswar, for his permission to publish this paper and the
Ministry of Steel, Government of India, for their financial support.
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