Beneficiation of Low-grade Barite ore from Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, Nigeria

Authors: Mgbemere, H.E., Obidiegwu, E.O. And Onovo, H.O.

DOI Info: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8094696

ABSTRACT

The challenge with using most Barite ores from Nigeria is usually their low specific gravity values as a result of impurities contained in them. This research investigates the beneficiation using froth floatation process of low grade Barite ore from Dadin Kowa in Gombe State, Nigeria. The concentration of the floatation chemicals was varied from 0 to 0.5 mol. X-ray fluorescence (XRF), microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and specific gravity (S.G) methods were used to analyse the constituents, morphology, phases and concentration of the barite respectively. The results show that 80% improvement of the barite ore concentration was achieved (53.6% to 78.6%) with 0.1 mol of frother and collectors. The morphology of the samples revealed decreased impurity and porosity after beneficiation. X-ray diffraction exposed the barite structure and shows that increasing concentration of reagents resulted in increased peaks intensity. More than 32% increase in specific gravity was observed in the barite ore which rose from 3.22 to 4.27 in the barite beneficiated with 0.5 mol of the chemicals. The results indicate that locally available barite with low concentration of barite can be beneficiated to levels where they can be used industrially.

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