Magnetic separation of serpentinite mining residue as a precursor to mineral carbonation

Abstract

Chrysotile mining in Québec has produced about 2 Gt of serpentinite residue. The present study investigates the magnetic separation of serpentinite residue from Québec to produce a non-magnetic feed stock for mineral carbonation. This study also scrutinizes the quality of the magnetic fraction recovered for use as a source of iron ore. The optimum conditions of magnetic separation were obtained with multiple pass approaches; at 40% initial pulp density and 7.5 × 10-3 tesla (T) magnetic intensity with a mean particle size of 75 μm. The process removed about 71% of the iron impurities from the initial feed. The final non-magnetic fraction is rich in magnesium silicates with a low iron oxide co..