Chemical Beneficiation of Magnesite

Magnesite is an important refractory mineral used in the manufacture of basic refractories. The total demand(1) for various kinds of basic refractories for 1984-85 has been estimated to be 4,68,000 tonnes per annum which is estimated to increase to 5,09,000 tonnes per annum by 1989-90. India has known reserves of 13.6 million tonnes of magnesite. Magnesite occurs mainly in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. The all-India production of magnesite in 1981 was 4,63,000 tonnes. Tamil Nadu prod-uces nearly 76% of the all-India production followed by Uttar Pradesh with 21 °,10.The remaining 3% of the produ-ction comes from Karnataka and Rajasthan