Laboratory and pilot-plant beneficiation of chromite ore from Bird River, Manitoba

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 81, No. 912, 1988

P.R.A. ANDREWS, CANMET-EMR, Ottawa, Ontario, and I. JACKMAN, Lakefield Research, Lakefield, Ontario

A mineral processing investigation to recover chromite was performed at Lakefield Research, under the guidance of CANMET personnel, on a 70 tonne ore sample from the Bird River deposit in Manitoba. In the laboratory phase a flowsheet was developed which involved grinding, gravity separation and flotation. The gravity concentrates were upgraded by magnetic separation and the flotation concentrates by gravity concentration. Pre-concen-tration by electronic ore sorting, magnetic separation and heavy-media separation also was examined. The developed flowsheet was applied on a pilot-plant scale in the second phase of the testwork to the ore as received, and to ore pre-concentrated by electronic ore sorting and magnetic separation. Ore pre-concentrated by heavy-media separation was treated on a laboratory scale based on the pilot-plant flowsheet. Processing the ore as received resulted in 77% recovery of chromite in a concentrate analyzing 30% Cr2O3; processing ore pre-concentrated by electronic ore sorting resulted in 64% recovery of chromite in a concentrate analyzing 30.5% Cr2O3.

Mots Clés: Industrial minerals, Beneficiation, Chromites, Bird River, Grinding, Gravity separation, Flotation, Pilot plants, Pre-concentration, Laboratory beneficiation.