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Characterization Study of some Bauxite Deposits in Northern Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Barbara da Rocha Pereira ,
Morgana Rosset Open the ORCID record for Morgana Rosset [Opens in a new window] ,
José Diogo de Oliveria Lima ,
Keila Palheta Gomes ,
Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa  and
Jorge Alberto Soares Tenório
Barbara da Rocha Pereira
Affiliation:
LAREX Laboratory of Recycling, Waste Treatment, and Extraction - Chemical Engineering, Department of Polytechnic School of University of Sao Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil
Morgana Rosset*
Affiliation:
LAREX Laboratory of Recycling, Waste Treatment, and Extraction - Chemical Engineering, Department of Polytechnic School of University of Sao Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil
José Diogo de Oliveria Lima
Affiliation:
MRN Mineração Rio Do Norte, District of Porto de Trombetas, Pará, Brazil
Keila Palheta Gomes
Affiliation:
MRN Mineração Rio Do Norte, District of Porto de Trombetas, Pará, Brazil
Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa
Affiliation:
LAREX Laboratory of Recycling, Waste Treatment, and Extraction - Chemical Engineering, Department of Polytechnic School of University of Sao Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil
Jorge Alberto Soares Tenório
Affiliation:
LAREX Laboratory of Recycling, Waste Treatment, and Extraction - Chemical Engineering, Department of Polytechnic School of University of Sao Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Alumina is produced from bauxite, which contains a mixture of various oxides, such as aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), silicon (Si), and titanium (Ti). Bauxite can also be considered a source of several other valuable metals, such as scandium (Sc), vanadium (V), and gallium (Ga). The composition and mineralogy of alumina determine their economic value, but their characteristics vary by locality. The physicochemical characteristics of bauxites can also be influenced largely by weathering processes, even within the same locality. For this reason, the present study was undertaken with the objective of comparing the characterization data of three bauxite samples collected, which will be referred to as D, E, and F, from the Cruz Alta do Pará plateau in northern Brazil. The samples were solubilized by multi-acid digestion and fusion with lithium metaborate to quantify their metal compositions by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The mineralogical characterization was conducted by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the phase changes of minerals in bauxite were detected by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTG). The total organic carbon (TOC) technique was used to quantify the C in the samples, and the moisture content was also measured. Alumina was 30 wt.% on average for all samples, good for producing high-purity alumina by hydrometallurgical processes. The results, however, showed high (~20 at.%) silica concentrations in two samples and ~3 wt.% Fe in one sample, which can pose a challenge in the Bayer process. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that gibbsite (Gbs), kaolinite (Kln), anatase (Ant), and hematite (Hem) were the major mineral phases in these samples. The study showed that the samples from the same mine vary in their metal content, especially with regard to Si, and they, thus, need to be processed selectively to maximize their economic value.

Keywords

AluminaCharacterizationGibbsiteBauxite
Type
Review
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 71 , Issue 6 , December 2023 , pp. 707 - 721
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Clay Minerals Society 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Yuji Arai

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