A combination of bioleaching and electromagnetic separation in the treatment of quartz sands

• Main Authors: Lovás Michal, Štyriaková Iveta, Hredzák Slavomír
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Technical University of Kosice 2006-12-01
• Series: Acta Montanistica Slovaca
• Subjects: industrial minerals; bioleaching; Bacillus sp.; heterotrophic bacteria; iron
• Online Access: http://actamont.tuke.sk/pdf/2006/s2/30styriakova2.pdf

This contribution deals with the treatment of Slovakian eolic quartz sands by bioleaching and magnetic separation with the aim to remove iron. The X-ray study of sand patterns confirms that quartz occurs as a dominant mineral. Accompanying minerals are represented by smectite and feldspars. As to the sample of unground sand, bacterial leaching resulted in a Fe2O3 reduction to the content of 0.13 %. Similarly, in case of ground sample, the Fe2O3 content was decreased to the value of 0.19 %. Thus, biological leaching removed 60 % of Fe and by following leaching by oxalic acid total the iron removal was 70.5 %. Finally, the application of magnetic separation resulted in the total iron removal of 93 % and, in such combined way, the prepared product contained 0.024 % of Fe2O3. Achieved results on the iron removal points to the fact that the combination of leaching and magnetic separation enables to obtain a product usable in glass industry.