Research on new beneficiation process of low-grade magnesite using vertical roller mill

We investigated whether the vertical roller mill can be efficiently used in the beneficiation of low-grade magnesite and whether it can improve upon the separation indices achieved by the ball mill. We conducted experiments involving the reverse flotation and positive flotation of low-grade magnesite to determine the optimum process parameters, and then performed closed-circuit beneficiation experiments using the vertical roller mill and ball mill. The results show that the optimum process parameters for the vertical roller mill are as follows: a grinding fineness of 81.6wt% of particles less than 0.074 mm, a dodecyl amine (DDA) dosage in magnesite reverse flotation of 100 g·t⁻¹, and dosages of Na₂CO₃, (NaPO₃)₆, and NaOL in the positive flotation section of 1000, 100, and 1000 g·t⁻¹, respectively. Compared with the ball mill, the use of the vertical roller mill in the beneficiation of low-grade magnesite resulted in a 1.28% increase in the concentrate grade of MgO and a 5.88% increase in the recovery of MgO. The results of our causation mechanism analysis show that a higher specific surface area and greater surface roughness are the main reasons for the better flotation performance of particles ground by the vertical roller mill in the beneficiation of low-grade magnesite.