Mechanochemical technology of iron extraction from enrichment tailings

The article describes the results of studies on ore dressing waste processing at the enterprises of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly with production of metals and building materials. About 1.8 billion tons of tailings were stored there. Significant feature of deposits formation is division of tailings by size and specific gravity in water stream, since tailings are transported from the enrichment plant to the tailing dams by hydrotransport. Characteristics of the tailings from wet magnetic research method was applied, including system analysis and scientific generalization, data processing using methods of statistics, probability theory and mathematical modeling. The authors have systematized the results of tailings leaching of following types: agitation leaching in percolator, agitation leaching after activation in disintegrator in the dry state and reagent leaching in disintegrator. Regression analysis of experimental data have been carried out, on the basis of which graphs of dependence of iron extraction on the values of variable process factors were constructed. The used enrichment technologies are limited by extraction limit, which results in processing tailings. The use of these tailings by traditional technologies is not economically efficient, and upgrading of enrichment processes is advisable using hydrometallurgical and chemical technologies. Promising direction in metals extraction from mining waste is combination of processing technologies based on possibilities of both chemical enrichment and activation in disintegrator. It was determined that mechanochemical activation of tailings in disintegrator simultaneously with leaching can significantly increase extraction while the processing time is reduced hundredfold. Recommended technology may be in demand at mining enterprises with the prospect of transition to underground mining.