Mineralogical Characterization of Goethite- Lateritic Ore & its Implication on Beneficiation

Mineralogical characterization of ore has to get due attention before any attempt for its processing and has become almost inevitable these days because of the increasing demand of the ore. Mineral processing technology is evolved to separate and recover ore minerals from gangue in a commercially viable method and is mainly based upon the process of mineral liberation and the process of mineral separation. A very lean grade iron ore sample was collected from Barsua iron ore deposits assaying 38.19% Fe, 9.48%SiO2, 19.97 Al2O3 and 15.01LOI. From characterization studies it is revealed that the sample contains huge quantity of goethite which is partially weathered, interlocked with hematite and gangue minerals like kaolinite, gibbsite at different proportion. Mineralogical studies conclude that the final concentrate product quality depends upon the presence of goethite.