Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
4f58c198-8044-4fa6-8475-aaa72ac73eea
Materials
Associated ID
fc2bcf11-d3d5-4e6e-b345-2d2b31d1da03
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
This dataset represents the life cycle inventory (cradle-to-gate) of magnetite ore processed using ultrafine crushing-wet magnetic separation and tailings rejection technology in Shandong. It covers all activities related to iron concentrate beneficiation production, from crushing to the production of hematite concentrate, but excludes direct or indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the production of crushing equipment, magnetic separation equipment, personnel transportation, and daily office operations during the beneficiation process. The dataset is formed by merging data from multiple sources, based on national standards such as the 'Manual of Production and Emission Coefficients for the Iron Ore Mining and Processing Industry (0810)', 'Emission standard of pollutants for mining and mineral procressing industry (GB 28661-2012)', 'Cleaning production standard Iron ore mining and mineral processing industry', and 'The norm of the energy consumption per unit product of iron ore dressing(GB31337-2014)', representing the average production level of magnetite processing using ultra-fine crushing - wet magnetic separation and tailings rejection technology in Shandong.
Activity Description
This dataset describes the Shandong ultrafine crushing-wet magnetic separation tailings disposal technology for magnetite, with the following process flow:
1. Crushing Stage
Coarse Crushing: The ore undergoes coarse crushing using a jaw crusher, breaking large pieces into smaller particles, typically below 100mm.
Medium and Fine Crushing: The coarsely crushed ore enters a cone crusher or impact crusher for further crushing into even smaller particles, with the final particle size generally controlled between 5 and 15mm, preparing for the ultrafine crushing process.
2. Ultrafine Crushing (High-Pressure Roller Mill)
High-Pressure Roller Mill: The high-pressure roller mill is the core equipment in the ultrafine crushing process. Under high pressure, the ore is crushed, refining the particle size to below 5mm or 3mm, achieving the particle size required for magnetic separation. The high-pressure roller mill not only performs physical crushing but also improves the ore's liberation degree by generating micro-cracks, reducing energy consumption and increasing the efficiency of subsequent magnetic separation. Ultra-fine crushing effect: The ore particles are greatly reduced after high-pressure roller milling, and the degree of liberation is significantly improved, resulting in more thorough separation of iron minerals from gangue. This particle size (typically -5mm or -3mm) ensures optimized magnetic separation performance.
3. Wet Magnetic Separation Tailings Removal
Wet magnetic separation equipment: The wet magnetic separation process uses a permanent magnet medium-intensity magnetic separator. This equipment separates iron minerals from gangue through magnetic separation. Magnetic minerals are adsorbed by the magnetic separator drum, while non-magnetic gangue is discharged as tailings.
Tailings removal effect: Wet magnetic separation can remove approximately 40% of the coarse tailings, greatly reducing the amount of material entering subsequent grinding and beneficiation processes. This not only reduces energy consumption and costs but also effectively improves beneficiation efficiency. The iron content of the tailings is typically controlled below 10%, while the iron grade of the iron concentrate is increased to over 65%.
4. Concentrate Recovery and Tailings Treatment
Grinding Processing: After wet magnetic separation and tailings removal, the iron content of the ore entering the grinding process is significantly increased to approximately 40%, providing high-quality raw materials for subsequent grinding and beneficiation processes. Grinding processing further improves the concentrate grade through further grinding and multi-stage magnetic separation.
Concentrate Beneficiation and Dewatering: The beneficiated iron concentrate is further purified by magnetic separation, ultimately achieving an iron concentrate grade of over 65% and SiO₂ content controlled below 4%. Dewatering equipment (such as disc filters) dewaters the slurry, ultimately forming a low-moisture iron concentrate for easy transportation and storage.
Tailings Treatment: The tailings generated from the tailings removal process have a low iron content (typically below 10%). After treatment in tailings ponds or other facilities, the tailings are either landfilled or disposed of as other waste, reducing pressure on tailings ponds and mitigating environmental impact.
Process Description
The iron concentrate in this dataset has a grade of 65%, belongs to transition metals, and is the primary product of the mineral processing stage. Iron concentrate is typically in powder form and is widely used in downstream processing at sintering and pelletizing plants, serving as a key raw material for steel production.
Time period
2022
2026
Geography
China,Shandong
Geography comment
Forming Shandong's average data through the merging of multiple datasets
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
Technical principle of ultra-fine crushing - wet magnetic separation and tailings rejection technology: Crush the ore to less than 5 mm or 3 mm using a high pressure roller mill, followed by wet magnetic separation and tailings rejection using a medium-intensity permanent magnetic separator. Technical applicability and characteristics: The ultra-fine crushing - wet magnetic separation and tailings rejection technology can improve metal recovery rates and reduce pollution at the source. By applying this technology, approximately 40% of coarse tailings can be rejected, increasing the iron grade of the material fed into the mill to about 40%, producing iron concentrate with an iron grade above 65%, reducing SiO₂ content to below 4%, and achieving tailings grade below 10%. However, this technology requires a high level of automation control. This technology is widely applicable to both existing and newly built magnetite mines, especially suitable for extremely lean ores.