Particle tracking in geometallurgical testing for Leveäniemi Iron ore, Sweden

In a particle based geometallurgical model, the behavior of the particles can be used for forecast the products and quantify the performance of the different ore types within a deposit. The particle tracking is an algorithm developed by Lamberg and Vianna 2007 whose aim is to balance the liberation data in a mineral processing circuit composed by several processing units. Currently, this tool is being developed for the HSC Chemistry software by Outotec.The objective of this study is to understand and evaluate the particle tracking algorithm in a geometallurgical test for iron ore. To achieve this objective, the liberation data is balanced in a Davis tube test circuit. A total of 13 samples from Leveäniemi iron ore were process in a Davis tube circuit.The magnetite is the main mineral in the Leveäniemi iron ore samples. Its high recovery in the Davis tube circuit along with the V, Ti and Mn suggest that these elements are present in the magnetite lattice. These penalty elements in the iron concentrates cannot be avoided at the stage of mineral concentrations.The washing effect of the Davis tubes controlled by the rotational and longitudinal agitation of the tube perturb the particles agglomeration between the pole tips of the electromagnet. A higher agitation frequency and amplitude will wash away most of the gangue minerals and also fine grained magnetite.In this work, the particle tracking is depicted and implemented in a magnetic separation circuit for high liberated material. The liberation data was balanced in a way that the particle classes can be followed through circuit and their recoveries can be calculated. Nevertheless, the algorithm requires further validation and analysis of its limitations in terms of resolution and reproducibility