See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/352933183

Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining

Chapter · July 2021

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-73796-2_7

CITATIONS READS

5 647

2 authors, including:

Ashok Nandi

2 PUBLICATIONS 5 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Ashok Nandi on 13 February 2023.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach
to Value Addition in Mining

Basudeb Datta and Ashok Nandi

Abstract The main objective of bauxite beneficiation is to lower the concentration

of reactive silica, in the form of kaolinitic clay, and also to increase the alumina
content. Additionally, reduction in iron content, particularly in the form of goethite,
and reduction of organic carbon can also increase the value of the bauxite product.
Metallurgical bauxite is a low-value bulk ore, and therefore preference is often given
to simple beneficiation techniques, such as crushing followed by dry screening or
washing and scrubbing processes. The most effective way to remove both kaolinite
and goethite is by washing, followed by attrition scrubbing and desliming through
removal of clay-rich super fines in hydro-cyclone. Processing of bauxite for smelter
grade alumina is quite sensitive to bauxite recovery and total cost for processing
of ore, particularly in wet beneficiation. On the other hand, owing to homogeneous
nature and consistent quality, some alumina refineries prefer washed ore compared
to simple crushed run-of-mine (ROM) bauxite. Non-metallurgical bauxite ore is
generally sold at higher prices, and consequently can offset lower recovery and higher
beneficiation costs. The primary objective of beneficiation for non-metallurgical
bauxite is to lower iron and titanium contents in the product, and also to enhance
alumina values. This often requires more complicated processes, such as the use of
a high-intensity wet magnetic separator, with fine grinding of bauxite to liberate the
iron minerals. In some cases, reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation
may be effective, depending on chemical and mineralogical characteristics of the
bauxite. An acid leaching process can also be employed on physically beneficiated
bauxite to lower the iron content to the level of 2–3% Fe2 O3 .

Keywords Beneficiation · Bauxite · Kaolinite · Reactive silica · Boehmite ·

Goethite · Washing · Scrubbing · Reduction roasting

B. Datta
Sierra Mineral Holdings 1 Ltd. (Vimetco), Freetown, Sierra Leone
A. Nandi (B)
Mineral Information & Development Centre (I) Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 99

K. Randive et al. (eds.), Innovations in Sustainable Mining, Earth and Environmental
Sciences Library, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73796-2_7
100 B. Datta and A. Nandi

1 Introduction

As the resources of high-grade bauxite in the world are depleting, it has become
almost pre-requisite for some of the mines to upgrade the ore, particularly for export,
where the long and costly transportation are involved. However, the pit head alumina
refineries using local bauxite may not require complicated upgrading as the Bayer
process itself, is a chemical beneficiation technology. On the other hand, the benefici-
ation process, particularly the washing techniques, produce one of the best and consis-
tent grade metallurgical grade bauxite, preferred by the alumina refineries compared
to Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) of similar chemical characteristic. Alumina plants, in
general, prefer the washed bauxite, for example MRN Trombetas (Brazil) and SMHL
(Sierra Leone), despite comparatively higher cost. The washing processes are mainly
adopted for high silica ores, whereas naturally occurring low silica bauxite of Guinea
are used as DSO. While there is no washing in these mines, some processing such as
blending on stockpiles, crushing, drying, and homogenization via stacker/reclaimer
are required before exportation.
Any beneficiation process, which can effectively reduce the silica content of
bauxite (mainly in reactive form such as kaolinite) is given the first priority in the
metallurgical industry. Second priority is given to beneficiation methods for the
reduction of iron content (e.g. goethite), which mainly causes settling issues and
higher ore consumption in alumina plants. Any reduction in boehmite and organic
contents of bauxite are always welcome in a low temperature alumina refinery. An
important issue in the beneficiation of bauxite is the fine dispersion of iron oxides,
alumina, kaolinitic clays and other minerals. However, in many−but certainly not
all−deposits, the detrimental kaolinite is present in a large proportion as loose accu-
mulations of clay-sized (<4 µm) particles, not intergrown with gibbsite. Gibbsite is
commonly present in concretions or crystals of variable size, but seldom as small as
the clay-sized kaolinite. Therefore, this reactive form of silica in bauxite can be partly
eliminated by adopting suitable dry and/or wet scrubbing and screening methods.
In some cases, high concentrations of finely dispersed quartz can also be eliminated
from run of mine (ROM) ore by dry and wet processes, to increase the value of the
product.
In the case of the non-metallurgical bauxite industry, the main objectives are to
lower the iron and titania content, and significantly increase alumina concentration.
Given higher product prices compared to metallurgical grade bauxite, the economics
are more supportive of absorbing the higher full cost of beneficiation. Due to the acute
shortage of calcined bauxite for the refractory and abrasive industries, it has become
necessary to develop processes for lowering the iron content and increasing alumina
in metallurgical grade bauxite ore, which is more widespread in occurrence. Naturally
occurring low-iron and low-titania bauxite is mainly available in Guyana, China and
Suriname (for coastal plain or lowland bauxites), however, these high-grade resources
are fast depleting, and China is now struggling to feed its own industries. An intensive
R&D effort is required in this direction and some suggestions are put forward in this
paper.
Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining 101

Table 1 Size and chemical assay of lateritic bauxite

Size mm Al2 O3 % SiO2 % R–SiO2 % Fe2 O3 % TiO2 % LOI
+40 45.7 4.76 3.95 20.0 5.24 23.9
−40 + 30 48.5 2.74 2.49 17.6 5.06 25.8
−30 + 20 50.1 3.35 2.18 15.9 5.57 25.3
−20 + 10 46.0 4.43 3.72 20.7 3.60 24.7
+10 + 5.6 45.2 4.73 3.91 21.4 4.12 24.0
−5.6 + 3.35 43.5 5.69 4.68 23.2 4.26 22.9
−3.35 + 2 42.8 6.05 4.82 23.9 4.36 22.3
−2 + 1 43.6 6.86 5.41 24.3 4.54 20.2
−1 + 0.5 41.9 8.73 6.24 22.3 4.28 22.1
−0.5 + 0.25 39.5 12.69 8.90 22.2 4.30 20.7
−0.25 + 0.15 39.5 13.01 9.10 22.0 4.60 20.5
−0.15 + 0.1 39.4 11.90 7.80 23.4 4.59 20.3
−0.1 + 0.075 39.7 11.25 7.50 23.5 4.50 20.4
−0.075 + 0.045 39.4 11.50 7.60 23.7 4.38 20.6
−0.045 35.9 17.65 13.10 20.3 4.29 17.6

2 Bauxite Beneficiation for the Metallurgical Industry

In case of lateritic bauxite, it is common that alumina is concentrated in coarser

sized particles compared to the finer sizes. Whereas the reactive silica in the form
of kaolinite (clay) gets concentrated in the fine (<2 mm) and superfine (<0.05 mm)
fractions. This is well-illustrated in the case of one of the lateritic bauxites of India,
as shown below [1] (Table 1).
Keeping the above characteristics in view, several west coast lateritic bauxite
mines of India employ dry crushing−screening process to bring down silica content
from the metallurgical grade bauxite [2]. Recently, a bauxite mine of Guinea known
as AGB2A has also adopted the dry beneficiation procedure to cut down silica from
about 7% to below 3%, to make this one the best metallurgical grade bauxite of
Guinea.

3 Wet Beneficiation of Bauxite

Microscopic examination of typical lateritic bauxite shows that mostly kaolinite and
goethite form the groundmass, in-filling the larger grains of gibbsite and hematite,
although part of the alumina can also be present as amorphous masses, or poorly
crystalline forms in the fine-grained Al–Fe–Si matrix in bauxite. In certain baux-
ites, removal of clay is only possible by attrition scrubbing and wet screening after
102 B. Datta and A. Nandi

crushing to a particular size [3]. Keeping in view these general characteristics of

lateritic bauxite, most of the high-silica raw ore of Brazil [4], Indonesia and Sierra
Leone are beneficiated by washing, attrition scrubbing followed by screening, and
finally desliming in hydro-cyclones to recover a part of good bauxite and eliminate
super-fines as cyclone overflow [5]. A general flowsheet of bauxite washing is shown
here in Fig. 1.
Depending on the particle size distributions and washing characteristics of indi-
vidual bauxites, some of the coarse higher grade dry or wet fractions can be removed
before the attrition scrubber. In order to save water and avoid washing all of the
bauxite, it can be feasible to extract coarse dry fractions as such before introducing
any water. Depending upon particle size distribution of run of mines bauxite, the
above process flow can be further customised and optimised by feeding only the
oversize (>80 mm) fraction into the crusher, and undersize directly into the attrition
scrubber. As illustrated in Table 2, the dry screening process produces fairly low

Feeder

Crusher

Water Jet
Vibrating Drum-Scrubber
Screen

Water Jet
Hydrocyclone
Vibrating
Screen

>70 mm 20 – 70 mm 5 – 20 mm 0.5-5 mm <0.05 mm >0.05-0.5 mm

Fig. 1 General industrial flowsheet for removal of silica from Bauxite

Table 2 Characteristics of Sierra Leone bauxite (dry sieving)

Sample Fraction %Al2 O3 %SiO2 %Fe2 O3 %LOI Fraction %
+100 mm 47.30 3.80 20.40 25.60 20.16
−100/+ 20 mm 45.50 3.70 22.40 24.98 23.15
−20/+ 10 mm 40.90 6.10 27.40 23.62 9.68
−10/+ 6.3 mm 37.40 6.60 33.60 22.37 14.23
−6.3/+ 3 mm 36.90 5.90 35.50 21.91 7.36
−3 mm 28.70 11.60 37.20 19.96 25.42
Weighted average 39.36 6.54 28.80 23.10 100.00
Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining 103

AL2O3 (%) OF RUN OF MINES VS DRY SIO2 (%) OF RUN OF MINES VS DRY
BENERICIATED BAUXITE BENERICIATED BAUXITE
47.2 4.80 DBB
DBB summary
46.8 summary 4.40 ROM for
4.00 DBB
46.4 ROM for

SIO2%
AL2O3, %

DBB 3.60
46.0
3.20
45.6
2.80
45.2
2.40
44.8
2.00
44.4
44.0

Fig. 2 Increase in alumina and reduction in silica during dry crushing−screening process

silica ore of above 20 mm fractions, and it may not be necessary to wash +20 mm
size fractions [2].
Washing of bauxite generally brings down the kaolinite content, which predomi-
nates (about 80% of total silica) in the soft bauxite of Sierra Leone, and consequently
alumina increases. Iron, mainly in the form of goethite & amorphous masses also
decreases in the washed product, which significantly improves the settling char-
acteristics of ore in the downstream processes. In most of the lateritic bauxites of
the world, alumina and iron contents have inverse relationships and any process
which decreases Fe2 O3 proportionately increases Al2 O3 . In the case of bauxite
washing, where silica is significantly decreased in the washed product, a part of the
benefit arises from increasing the alumina content, however, iron may also increase
or decrease depending on the nature of goethite and hematite minerals, and their
ratio in the ore. Goethite, which mostly occurs as fine-grained amorphous masses,
behaves like kaolinite during the washing process, and concentrates in the fines and
super-fines fractions.
As indicated, dry crushing/screening processes can improve bauxite quality,
however, these benefits are not significant compared to the grade improvements
achieved by wet processes, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, of Gondama bauxite of Sierra
Leone.
Table 3 shows the mineralogy of typical un-washed and washed samples of
Gondama bauxite of Sierra Leone; however, they are not related.
As observed in the above table, raw bauxite of Gondama, Sierra Leone has high
kaolinite, quartz and goethite contents compared to the washed product. It is also
reported that most of the fine, amorphous phases (Al–Si–Fe matrix) of bauxite are
washed out during the intense wet beneficiation process, and overall improves the
desilication, digestion and settling characteristics of bauxite during the Bayer process.
104 B. Datta and A. Nandi

Fig. 3 Increase in alumina AL2O3 (%) OF RUN OF MINES VS WASHED

and reduction in silica during BAUXITE
wet beneficiation process 51.0 Washed bauxite ROM

50.0

49.0

Al2O3, %
48.0

47.0

46.0

45.0

44.0

SIO2 (%) OF RUN OF MINES VS WASHED

BAUXITE
11.0
Washed bauxite ROM
10.0
9.0
8.0
SIO2, %

7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0

4 How Attrition Scrubbing and Desliming Assists in Wet

Beneficiation Process?

In order to measure the chemical and mineralogical concentrations in tailings, tests

were conducted in the well-equipped laboratory of AKW in Germany, by fractional
analysis, and the same samples have undergone attrition scrubbing [6]. The salient
results are depicted in Tables 4 and 5.
Table 4 shows significant concentration of kaolinite in super-fines of <25 µ,
where as goethite and quartz have also concentrated in the finer fractions. Gibbsite,
as expected, is fairly high in the coarser particles, and slowly depletes in the finer
fractions of the same bauxite. Goethite tends to concentrate in the fines; however,
hematite behaves similar to gibbsite. LOI values demonstrate decreasing available
alumina from coarse to fine fractions. Here, the old tailings of Gondama project of
SMHL, Sierra Leone can be effectively beneficiated by eliminating below 500 µ high
silica and low alumina materials. Further, these tailings were submitted to attrition
scrubbing and desliming in the same AKW laboratory [3], and results are compared
with simple coarse and below 500 µ fractions, as shown in Table 5.
Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining 105

Table 3 Mineralogy of typical Un-washed and Washed bauxite of gondama, Sierra Leone
Un-washed
Phase % SUM Gibs Boeh KaoT Quar Hema Goet Ilme Anat Ruti Chem Diff
99.40 56.00 0.00 10.50 2.00 2.50 23.50 4.50 0.30 0.10 Anal
Fe2 O3 % 23.88 – – – – 2.50 19.02 2.37 – – 23.88 0.00
TiO2 % 2.77 – – – – – – 2.37 0.30 0.10 2.93 0.16
SiO2 % 6.89 – – 4.89 2.00 – – – – – 6.81 −0.08
Al2 O3 % 42.73 36.60 – 4.15 – – 1.99 – – – 42.02 −0.71
H2 O% 23.36 19.40 – 1.47 – – 2.50 – – – – –
LOI% 23.36 19.40 0.00 1.47 0.00 0.00 2.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 23.74 0.38
Washed
Phase % SUM Gibs KaoT Goet Hema Anat Ruti Ilme Quar Chem Diff
99.30 71.50 6.00 17.00 2.50 0.20 0.20 1.50 0.40 Anal
Fe2 O3 % 16.45 – – 13.16 2.50 – – 0.79 – 16.21 −0.24
TiO2 % 1.19 – – – – 0.20 0.20 0.79 – 1.22 0.03
SiO2 % 3.19 – 2.79 – – – – – 0.40 3.20 0.01
Al2 O3 % 51.11 46.73 2.37 2.01 – – – – – 50.55 −0.56
H2 O% 27.45 24.77 0.84 1.84 – – – – – – –
LOI% 27.44 24.77 0.84 1.84 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 28.40 0.96

Table 4 Fraction analysis of bauxite tailings of Sierra Leone

Weight-% Raw Fraction Fraction Fraction Fraction Fraction Fraction
tailings >1000 µm 500–1000 250–500 90–250 25–90 µm <25 µm
µm µm µm
Mass% of 100.0 40.6 13.3 9.2 12.5 9.0 15.4
fraction
SiO2 12.1 4.1 9.9 16.8 20.8 21.2 25.0
Al2O3 41.2 47.6 45.4 38.6 35.2 35.2 34.3
Fe2O3 21.1 19.6 17.4 20.7 21.3 22.1 20.5
TiO2 2.01 1.1 1.7 2.7 3.1 2.5 1.6
LOI 23.1 27.1 25.1 20.6 18.9 18.4 18.0
Gibbsite 50 68 59.5 42.5 37.5 30.5 27
Goethite 20 19 17 20 20 23 20.5
Hematite 2.5 2.5 2 2.5 3 1 2
Kaolinite 20 7.5 16 27 27 38 42
Quartz 2.5 0.5 2 4 8 3.5 5
 106

Table 5 Comparative assays in fractions and attritioned and deslimed bauxite samples
Weight-% Fraction Fraction >1000 µm Fraction Fraction 500–1000µm Fraction Fraction 25–500 µm
>1000 µm attritioned−deslimed 500–1000 µm attritioned−deslimed 25–500 µm attritioned−deslimed
Mass% of fraction 40.6 32.1 13.3 12.2 30.7 26.5
SiO2 4.1 3.4 9.9 7.1 19.7 16.9
A12O3 47.6 49.1 45.4 47 36.2 35.4
Fe2O3 19.6 18 17.4 17.3 21.3 23.3
TiO2 1.1 1 1.7 1.9 2.8 4.4
LOI 27.1 28.1 25.1 26.2 19.2 19.4
Gibbsite 68 73.5 59.5 69 36.9 41
Goethite 19 15 17 16.5 20.9 22
Hematite 2.5 4.5 2 2 2.3 3
Kao1inite 7.5 2.5 16 5 30.2 21
Quartz 0.5 2 2 4.5 5.5 7
B. Datta and A. Nandi
Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining 107

Here, after the attrition and de-sliming, kaolinite along with goethite have further
washed out from the coarser fractions, and deleterious contents have concentrated in
the fines thanks to scrubbing in the laboratory. As a result, the quality of the +500 µ
product has significantly improved in terms of silica and alumina. Based on this work,
two small plants to process and recover bauxite from old tailings (waste materials of
mining and earlier beneficiation), as well as fresh tailings from the bauxite washing
plant have been installed at Gondama SMHL bauxite operation in Sierra Leone to
recover bauxite (Fig. 4). A picture of the bauxite beneficiation plant to process the
tailing materials of SMHL, Sierra Leone is shown in Fig. 5. A typical photograph of
the hydrocyclone [7] for removal of clay rich fines as overflow from bauxite slurry
is given here, as Fig. 6.

Fig. 4 Typical plant design to recover bauxite from tailings

Fig. 5 Tailing beneficiation plant of SMHL, Sierra Leone

108 B. Datta and A. Nandi

Fig. 6 A typical
hydro-cyclone for separation
of clay rich fines as overflow
[7]

5 Bauxite Recovery

Bauxite recoveries in modern washing plants is in the range of 60–80%, however,

in some of the plants, the recovery is found to be as low as 50%, as they use simple
vibrating screens in place of hydro-cyclones. The quality of input bauxite, particularly
silica content and targeted washed bauxite quality, dictate the washed ore recovery.
The following methods may improve the bauxite recovery in the washing plants:
• Extract the good quality bauxite lumps by dry screening, before feeding material
into the washing plant. As demonstrated above in Table 2, in the case of Sierra
Leone bauxite, it is feasible to feed only the <20 mm fraction and improve the
overall recovery.
• Wash good quality lumps to remove fine kaolinite and goethite sticking on the
surface of lumps, and feed only below 30 or 20 mm into the drum scrubber, to
reduce the load and increase the overall recovery.
• In the older plants, install hydro-cyclones to recover fine bauxite from live tailings,
as demonstrated above.
Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining 109

Each bauxite has its own peculiarities and characteristics, and as such it is neces-
sary to establish the mode of beneficiation by conducting a series of experiments at
the site and laboratory pilot plant tests. Some bauxite responds quite well in the dry
crushing-screening process, and for others it is necessary to use water and wash to
reduce deleterious contents. Our experience shows that in low silica gibbsitic bauxite
of Guinea, it is sometimes beneficial to remove fines of below 5–10 mm sizes by dry
processes, to decrease the goethite & boehmite contents and improve moisture before
export. This process may be useful for those deposits/mines having low alumina and
high goethite content.

6 Why Alumina Refineries Prefer to Import Washed

Bauxite

One of the biggest cost components of alumina refining can be the raw material
cost, so having low-cost bauxite on a delivered basis is the most important. However,
alumina refineries dependent on imported bauxite prefer the washed beneficiated ore
compared to similar quality DSO for processing, despite comparatively higher prices
[2]. Bauxite wet beneficiation requires large capital investments in a washing plant,
tailings dams, power generation, water treatment, etc. and increased operating costs,
environmental licensing, restrictions on water usage and rehabilitation of tailings.
However, the improved bauxite quality fetches a price premium driven by refinery
operating cost improvements, that can be enough to offset all these additional costs.
There are some distinct advantages of processing washed bauxite, particularly for the
low temperature alumina refineries using gibbsitic bauxite for sweetener in the high
temperature plants. Some of the positive features of washed bauxite are as follows:
• The washed and scrubbed bauxite tends to be more uniform/homogenous in
quality compared to DSO of similar grade, due to additional mixing and blending
of ore.
• The washed ores have comparatively lower goethite content and also the
hematite:goethite ratio improves compared to normal lateritic bauxite, which helps
in better settling in the alumina plant.
• The reduction of fine-grained amorphous contents, organics and other delete-
rious elements of washed ore results in better bauxite digestion, precipitation and
settling performance in the refinery, as well as improved alumina product quality.
• Due to the lower content of fines, handling characteristics of washed bauxite
improves significantly.
• Some of the washed bauxites, such as MRN Trombetas ore, is quite reactive and
gibbsite is quickly dissolved in the refinery compared to other gibbsitic DSO.
• Washed bauxite of Sierra Leone and Brazil are quite soft, and the energy require-
ment in grinding (Bond Work Index) of this ore is relatively low, at less than 9
KWh per tonne, compared to typical Guinea bauxite.
110 B. Datta and A. Nandi

Keeping the above points in view, washed bauxite is considered premium grade
ore in the world market for the alumina refineries However, the feasibility of
washing process for each type of bauxite must be determined on a case-by-case basis
and CAPEX−OPEX must justify the investment. The other advantages of bauxite
beneficiation are listed below:
• Bauxite washing can significantly reduce the impurities in relatively lower grade
bauxites, which would otherwise not be exportable and/or accepted in the down-
stream processes, to an industry-accepted quality standard, and consequently
increase the conversion rate of mineral resources to ore reserves.
• Beneficiated bauxite, through improvement of specific consumption of bauxite
in the downstream processes, reduces the generation of bauxite residue/red mud,
whose safe storage and disposal is of major environmental concern in the industry.
This helps to further cut down on specific consumption of other raw materials
including caustic, lime etc., and the reduction of energy consumption, which
indirectly reduces the environmental footprint during the processes.
• Majorities of the impurities, including clay and gangue minerals, which can be and
should be eliminated through simple cost-effective and environmentally friendly
beneficiation processes at mine sites, instead of removing them in the alumina
plants at higher cost of caustic consumption, energy, storage and disposal of red
mud, etc.
• The demand for imported bauxite has increased, primarily driven by China and
to a lesser extent India, and beneficiated bauxite importation reduces the freight
cost per ton of production of metal, which directly or indirectly reduces the envi-
ronmental footprint through limiting emissions of SOX and NOX during long sea
transportation of bauxite cargoes.
• Selection and introduction of the appropriate beneficiation process technology
is the key in the optimization of the whole value chain of bauxite, alumina and
aluminium production. Beneficiation process flowsheets can be customized and
amended, based on various run of mine bauxite feed characteristics.

7 Bauxite Beneficiation for Non-metallurgical Industry

In terms of grades suitable for refractory/abrasive manufacturers, there are relatively

few deposits and producers in the world due to the stringent specifications attached
to refractory grade material: alumina should be minimum 55%, iron oxide levels
must be lower than 2.5%, compared with ten times that for metallurgical grades [8].
However, proppants (sintered bauxite) for hydrofracturing in oil and gas wells can
accept bauxite with 7–8% Fe2 O3 . Deposits which can satisfy these requirements are
not widespread; hence there is relative scarcity of refractory grade bauxite sources.
The general specification of raw bauxite for various non-metallurgical applications
are given in Table 6 [9].
In order to produce low iron bauxite for the value-added refractory and abrasive
industries, it has become necessary to beneficiate existing metallurgical grade ore,
Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining 111

Table 6 Chemical specifications of typical raw bauxite for various uses

Grade Major Oxides%
Al2 O3 SiO2 Fe2 O3 TiO2
Metallurgical 40–52 1.5–10 6–30 1–9
Cement as additive 45–55 Max.6 20–30 3
Abrasive Min.55 Max.5 Max.6 Min.2.5
Chemical 55–58 5–12 Max.2 1–6
Refractory Min.55 Max.5.5 Max.3 Max.2.5
Proppants Min.55 Max.6 Max.7 Max.8

which is available in abundance in the world [10]. Some of the processes suggested
for the bauxite beneficiation for refractory/abrasive industries are highlighted below:

7.1 Reduction Roasting Followed by Magnetic Separation

In order to lower the iron content in bauxite, processes have been developed for
reduction roasting, followed by magnetic separation technology, to process metal-
lurgical bauxite. It is shown that iron and aluminium can be separated after reduction
at a particular temperature (say 500–600 °C), with the help of special additives,
such as coke. A metallic iron concentrate with high-iron grade, and a non-magnetic
product with high alumina content, can be obtained from high-iron gibbsitic bauxite
containing 25–30% total iron. The metallic iron concentrate can be used as steel-
making material, and alumina can be extracted from the non-magnetic product. A
general flow sheet of this process is shown in Fig. 7 [11]. This process can be suit-
ably modified and adopted for metallurgical grade bauxite, to lower iron and titania
contents, for value-added non-metallurgical applications.

7.2 Chemical Methods

A hydrochloric acid leaching study was carried out on Indian bauxite of Eastern Ghats
(Odisha), to make the ore suitable for high-value, non-metallurgical applications
[10]. The HCl leaching studies of bauxite indicated that as the concentration of
HCl acid increases, the iron content reduces substantially, but at the same time, loss
of alumina takes place. The change in bauxite colour from reddish brown to light
colour indicated leaching of ore. It was found that bauxite of 300 µ size, leached
with HCl of 25% concentration for 60 min at 95 °C, produced the best results. The
recovery of high-grade bauxite (No. 1) was about 62%, and beneficiated bauxite (No.
2) produced at 40 min leaching had 76% recovery (Fig. 8). In the process, titania
has also substantially decreased, with the total TiO2 + Fe2 O3 in the first beneficiated
112 B. Datta and A. Nandi

Fig. 7 A flowsheet of reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation

Fig. 8 Results of Bauxite

BAUXITE
acid leaching tests
Al2O3 - 44.3 %
Fe2O3 - 26.7 %
SiO2 - 1.90 %
TiO2 - 2.70 %
LOI - 23.7%

BENEFICIATED BENEFICIATED
BAUXITE -1 BAUXITE -2

Al2O3 - 60.84 % Al2O3 - 59.29 %

Fe2O3 - 2.61% Fe2O3 - 5.21 %
SiO2 - 1.40% SiO2 - 1.72 %
TiO2 - 1.00% TiO2 - 1.65 %
LOI - 32.16% LOI - 31.30 %
Recovery : 62% Recovery : 76%
Bauxite Beneficiation: An Approach to Value Addition in Mining 113

Table 7 HCl leaching of

Main oxides Natural bauxite Processed bauxite
santa catarina bauxite of
(%Wt.) (%Wt.)
Brazil
Al2 O3 55.4 62.7
Fe2 O3 5.8 0.6
SiO2 3.5 5.5
TiO2 0.9 0.6
ZrO2 0.2 0.1
Loss on ignition 30.4 40.5

bauxite at only 3.61%, which can be considered as best quality of non-metallurgical

grade bauxite.
It is preferred that before the acid leaching, the iron content of metallurgical
bauxite can be brought down by physical beneficiation processes, such as the high
intensity wet magnetic separation and reduction roasting followed by magnetic sepa-
ration, so that minimum HCl can be used in bringing down Fe2 O3 below 2.5%. On
a similar concept, Altech Chemicals Ltd. has set up a high-purity alumina plant in
Malaysia, where the standard HCl leach process is adopted to extract alumina and
the raw material used is white clay.
A bauxite mining company of Brazil [12] carried out pilot tests for the acid
leaching process in their mine, to produce one of the best quality low-iron bauxites
for the refractory industry as shown in Table 7.
In order to minimize the input material for the leaching process, it is necessary
to physically beneficiate bauxite by high-intensity wet magnetic separation and/or
reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation, to lower the iron content. Acid
leaching may be employed in special cases as this requires special reactor vessels,
with necessary safety arrangements for industrial application.

8 Conclusion

• The prime objective of bauxite beneficiation for the metallurgical industry is to

reduce the reactive silica content of the ore for lower caustic consumption, and
higher alumina recovery. This is followed by reduction in iron content (mainly
goethite), organics, boehmite etc., resulting in the overall improvement in quality
and increase in available alumina.
• Dry beneficiation processes such as crushing to a particular size, followed by
elimination of fines by screening, are used in upgrading the bauxite quality in
various mining operations of India, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
• Wet beneficiation processes involving specific washing and classification are most
effective for lowering the concentrations of kaolinite, goethite, fine quartz, titania
and amorphous phases of lateritic bauxite.
 114 B. Datta and A. Nandi

• In Brazil, Sierra Leone and Vietnam, high silica run of mine (ROM) ores are
effectively washed and scrubbed to produce high quality metallurgical grade
bauxite.
• Thanks to the generally homogeneous nature of washed ore, combined with
low kaolinite, goethite, organic carbon and high gibbsitic alumina content, these
bauxites are the preferred ore for alumina refineries, dependent on import.
• Major non-metallurgical applications of bauxite include: high-temperature refrac-
tories, abrasives and ceramics industries, calcium aluminate cement, proppants,
steel slag, and welding flux, etc. The specifications for these non-metallurgical
bauxites tend to be more stringent compared to bauxites used in alumina plants.
• With the acute shortage of refractory and abrasive grade bauxites, it has become
imperative to beneficiate widely available metallurgical grade bauxite, mainly by
significantly lowering the iron and titania contents.
• There is still no proven commercial technology to produce high alumina, low iron
and low titania bauxite suitable for refractory and abrasive industries, and industry
is dependent on limited natural resources of Guyana, China and India. Here two
research directions are proposed to produce value added non-metallurgical grade
bauxite.

References

1. Kumar M, Senapati B, Satish Kumar C (2014) Beneficiation of high silica bauxite ores of
india, In: 3rd Annual IBAAS conference, Visakhapatnam, November 2014, vol 3, pp 34–42.
The IBAAS Binder
2. Datta B, Nandi A (2018) Bauxite beneficiation – issues & opportunities, In: 8th annual IBAAS
conference, Mumbai, September 2018, vol 8, pp 35–48. The IBAAS Binder
3. Goswami R (2018) An initiative to remove silica from bauxite ore, In: 8th annual IBAAS
conference, Mumbai, September 2018
4. Chaves AP (2010) Bauxite upgrading practices in Brazil. Travaux 35(39):110–116
5. Buntenbach S, Baumann T, Donhauser F (2010) Beneficiation of bauxite−upgrading of
recoverable Al2 O3 . Travaux 35(39):117–124
6. AKW, Germany (2017) Unpublished report on pilot plant test of SMHL, Sierra Leone Bauxite
(2017-15-15 BT Test Report + PSD 2016F96)
7. Urethane VorSpin Hydrocyclone (2020). http://www.cccmix.com/urethane-vorspin-hydrocycl
one/. Accessed 25 Nov 2020
8. Tran A (2007) Quest for calcined bauxite, industrial minerals, pp 32–41
9. Nandi A (2017) Value addition and non-metallurgical uses of bauxite−opportunities in guinea.
In: Annual IBAAS conference, Conakry, September 2017, vol 6, pp 67–75. The IBAAS Binder
10. Nandi A, Murthy PVR (1997) Production of special grade bauxites and export quality ore by
de-ironing Eastern Ghats Bauxite of India. In: Proceedings of 8th international congress of
ICSOBA, Milan, Italy, pp 16–18. Travaux 24(28):569–578
11. Li G, Sun N, Zeng J, Zhu Z, Jiang T (2010) Reduction roasting and Fe-Al separation of high
iron content gibbsitic type Bauxite ores, Light Metals 133–137
12. Fernandes T, de Aquino H, Riella G, Bernardin AM (2011) Mineralogical and physical-
chemical characterization of a bauxite ore from lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil, for refractory
production. Miner Proc Extr Metall Rev Int J 32(3):137–149

View publication stats