Raghupatruni Bhima Rao

In order to separate fine-grained monazite minerals from other heavy minerals and silicate gangue minerals, this article discusses flotation studies carried out at various flotation process parameters, such as reagent doses, pulp pH, conditioning time and flotation time. Surface response techniques and experiments were used in optimization research. The best flotation performance conditions are determined to be as follows: pulp pH—9, pulp density—30%, depressant sodium silicate—1.2 kg/t, collector oleic acid—1.2 kg/t, conditioning time—5 min and flotation time—10 min. A single stage yields a monazite grade of 94.8% and a recovery of 95.3% from a feed comprising 52.3% monazite, based on the experimental parameters mentioned above and the expected values determined via response surface methods. Cerium monazite, which is appropriate for recovering rare earth elements, is present in this sample.

This article discusses the process flow chart for the recovery of the rare earthbearing minerals monazite and zircon. The results of this study show that 97.9% monazite with 0.006% yield and 61.2% recovery can be achieved from a feed sample containing 0.0096% monazite by using spiral, electrostatic and magnetic separators followed by flotation. When zircon is subjected to study the process mineralogy, it is observed that a zircon grade in the feed sample containing 0.028% zircon can be upgraded to a zircon grade of 98.7% at the yield of 0.006% and the recovery of 21.5%.

The present investigation deals with the development of a process flow sheet for recovering strategic mineral monazite concentrate from a lean-grade offshore placer deposit of the Bramhagiri coast along the southeast coast of Odisha, India.In the present study, both dry and wet processes are investigated to improve the recovery and purity of monazite. The results of the pre-concentration studies reveal that by using multi-stage spiral concentrators, the Total Heavy Minerals [THM] have been upgraded to 97.8% with a monazite content of 0.33% from a feed sample containing 4.72% total heavy minerals and 0.01% monazite content. The beneficiation studies revealed that the feed was initially subjected to a high-tension separator, and the non-conducting fraction of the high-tension roll was further subjected to magnetic separation. The magnetic product was again subjected to a flotation process followed by cleaning of the flotation product using a magnetic separator. This magnetic product contains 98.89% monazite with 84% recovery and 0.28% yield from a spiral product containing 0.33% monazite and qualifies for extracting rare earths. It is worth recovering monazite mineral from even lean-grade deposits, as it is a source of uranium, thorium, and rare earth elements and is very high in demand for humankind due to technological advancements. In view of this, monazite recovery is not to be considered for the economic profitability of the process but for strategic requirements.