Estudo de caracterização e desenvolvimento tecnológico dos materiais duros cimentados da Mina de Fosfato da Copebrás, GO

Abstract

Improving the productivity of the Phosphate Beneficiation Plants, meeting the quality parameters required for Fertilizer Production Units is a challenge. The best proportion of the geological materials to be plowed and homogenized is necessary to optimize productivity and stability in the beneficiation. The change profile of the Chapadão mine deposit is about 100 meters thick and is subdivided into three basic types, from top to bottom, coinciding with decreasing intensity of weathering: oxidized ore, micaceous ore and altered rock in each portion of this profile of alteration, mainly close to the contacts between these three divisions, are hard materials, cemented by minerals apatite, quartz, goethite, monazite and barite. In this work the main deposit cements were characterized applying the basic conceptual methodology of mineralogical characterization: The results showed differences in the technological behavior between the types of cemented ores. The quartz and quartz with goethite cements showed that they contribute negatively to the flotation process, where a negative impact was detected to meet the specified quality of the apatite concentrate for these two types of cement, and for mass and metallurgical recovery for the quartz cement. Apatite and apatite with quartz cements showed positive results in the flotation process, reaching mass recoveries above 80%, recoveries of P2O5 above 90% and compliance with the quality of the apatite concentrate within the specified limits. The work also showed that the quartz cement has a BWI (Bond work Index) value significantly higher than the others, 20,27 kWh/t, classifying this type of cement negatively economically, since the cost to produce apatite concentrate from this source is higher , due to the higher energy expenditure and negative effect on efficiency and quality observed in flotation tests.