Magnetite dry separation solutions: revolutionizing efficiency and cost in anhydrous environments

Abstract: In the face of challenges such as water scarcity, cold regions and pressure on tailings ponds, the Magnetite Dry Separation Solution was born. The solution adopts the advanced dry magnetic separation process, which can efficiently separate magnetite without water, significantly reduce operating costs, and realize the win-win situation of environmental protection and benefit. This article analyzes the core equipment, process flow and outstanding advantages of dry separation technology.

In today's increasingly tense water resources and environmental protection requirements are becoming more and more strict, the traditional magnetite wet beneficiation (ball milling - magnetic separation) process is facing a serious challenge due to its high water consumption, high energy consumption, and the huge pressure of tailings storage construction and management. As a revolutionary technology path, magnetite dry beneficiation solution provides a brand-new choice for mining enterprises, especially those in arid and cold areas or environmentally sensitive areas.

First, the core principle: using the perfect combination of magnetic force and mechanical force

The core principle of dry separation of magnetite is the same as wet separation, which is based on the strong magnetic properties of magnetite (Fe3O4). The difference is that the dry separation is in the air directly on the crushed dry material for sorting, through the strong magnetic field generated by the dry magnetic separator, adsorption of magnetic minerals, while non-magnetic pulsars are separated under the action of gravity, centrifugal force or vibration.

Second, the core equipment: dry magnetic separator technology evolution

The success of the dry selection solution is inseparable from the core equipment - dry magnetic separator technology progress. The main types include:

1. Permanent magnetic cylinder dry separator:

   • Working Principle: Inside the drum, high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnetic material is used to form a fixed magnetic system. When the material passes through the surface of the drum, the magnetic material will be adsorbed and fall off with the rotation of the drum to the non-magnetic area, and the non-magnetic material will be thrown out due to inertia.

   • Application: Mainly used in roughing and tailing of ore, it can discard a large amount of waste rock in advance after large ore crushing, greatly reducing the amount of material entering the subsequent fine crushing and grinding process, thus greatly reducing the comprehensive energy consumption.

2. Permanent magnetic roller dry separator:

   • Working Principle: Adopting the same pole opposite permanent magnetic rollers to form a strong magnetic field area, forming a high gradient magnetic field. When the material passes through the rollers in a thin layer, it is subjected to strong magnetic force, and the sorting precision is higher.

   • Application: Suitable for the selection of medium and fine-grained materials, which can obtain higher grade concentrate.

3. Dry Magnetic Separator (Vertical Ring/Wind Separator)

   • Working principle: combined with the wind system, the use of airflow dispersion of materials, to prevent fine-grained materials from bonding, and through the synergistic effect of magnetic force and wind for sorting, especially suitable for processing powdery materials.

Typical dry separation process

An efficient magnetite dry separation production line usually contains the following key links:

1. Rough crushing and pre-waste: After the raw ore is roughly crushed by jaw crusher to a certain size (e.g. -30mm), it enters into the permanent magnetic cylinder dry separator for preliminary sorting, discarding most of the low-grade waste rock. This step can discard about 30%-50% of the surrounding rock and waste rock, which directly reduces the subsequent processing load.

2. Fine Crushing and Screening: The roughly sorted ore enters the cone crusher for fine crushing, and then passes through the vibrating screen to form a closed circuit, which ensures that the crushed products have uniform particle size (e.g. -5mm or -3mm).

3. Multi-stage dry sorting: The materials meeting the requirements of particle size enter the permanent magnetic roller dry sorter or vertical ring dry sorter for 1-2 times of sorting. By adjusting the magnetic field strength, drum/roller speed and material separating baffle, the concentrate grade is gradually improved.

4. Dust removal and collection: The whole dry separation process must be carried out in a closed system, and equipped with high efficient bag dust collector to collect the dust generated during the production process to realize dust-free and clean production.

Flow chart:
Raw ore → coarse crushing → (primary dry magnetic separation - tailing) → fine crushing & screening (closed circuit) → (secondary dry magnetic separation - selection) → (tertiary dry magnetic separation - selection) → high grade iron ore concentrate & tailings

Four, magnetite dry separation solution of the excellent advantages of

1. Zero water consumption, breaking through geographical restrictions:

   • Completely get rid of the dependence on water resources, which provides feasibility for magnetite development in arid and water-scarce areas, high and cold mountainous areas (water separation can not be used in winter).

2. Significant cost-effectiveness:

   • No dewatering and thickening process: Saves investment and operation cost of large equipment such as thickeners and filters.

   • No tailings storage: Dry tailings are solid particles, which can be used for backfilling the mining area, making bricks or building roads, completely eliminating the construction costs, safety risks and environmental hazards of wet tailings storage.

   • Energy saving and consumption reduction: By throwing a large amount of tailings in the early stage, the amount of materials that need to be finely crushed and milled is greatly reduced, thus saving electricity consumption (milling is the number one electricity consumer in mineral processing plants).

3. Environmental friendly, green mine model:

   • No wastewater discharge, eliminating the risk of heavy metal pollution of water bodies.

   • Dry stack tailings are more stable and easy to reclaim.

   • With the dust removal system, clean production can be realized.

4. Short payback period:

   • Due to the simplification of the process and the reduction of auxiliary facilities (such as pump house and tailings pipeline), the overall investment may be lower than that of a wet beneficiation plant of the same size, and the reduction of operating costs makes the payback period much shorter.

V. Application Scenarios and Precautions

• Ideal application scenario:

  • Ore embedded particle size is coarse, good monomer dissociation degree of magnetite.

  • Poor ore with low grade, which needs to be thrown away in advance.

  • Arid and water-scarce, cold areas or mining areas with very high environmental requirements.

• Precautions:

  • Ore moisture control: the moisture on the surface of the material should be strictly controlled below 1%, otherwise it will easily lead to material bonding, which will seriously affect the sorting effect.

  • Dust control: must be equipped with perfect dust removal system, which is the key to the successful operation of the dry separation plant.

  • Ore nature: for the embedded particle size is very fine or complex mineral composition of magnetite, dry beneficiation concentrate grade may not be as good as the wet selection, need to carry out detailed beneficiation test to determine the best program.

Choose us to win the future of dry beneficiation

We are committed to providing the global mining industry with the most advanced and reliable magnetite dry separation solutions. From small-scale testers to large-scale industrialized production lines, we offer:

• Free Ore Selectivity Testing: Verify the feasibility of dry beneficiation for you in the lab.

• Customized process design: We can provide you with the optimal solution according to your ore characteristics and site conditions.

• High-performance core equipment: We provide various types of dry magnetic separators with high magnetic field strength and stable sorting efficiency.

• EPC turnkey service: Provide one-stop turnkey project from design, manufacturing to installation and commissioning.

Consult our expert team immediately to get your exclusive magnetite dry separation technology program and economic benefit analysis report, and jointly open a new chapter of efficient, energy-saving and environmentally friendly mineral processing!