TREATMENT OF TITANIFEROUS ORE BY HIGH ENERGY MILLING IN THE PRESENCE OF AN ADDITIVE; LEACHING IRON FROM MILLED PRODUCT

摘要

High energy ball milling of particulate ilmenite (or other titaniferous ore) at room temperature, for periods of up to 300 hours, in the presence of a suitable additive, produces a nanostructural powder from which at least a major proportion of the iron in the titaniferous ore can be leached. The additive may be a reducing agent (for example, amorphous boron), a long chained hydrocarbon (for example, dodecane) or a surfactant (preferably dihexadecy1 dimethyl ammonium acetate, or didodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide, or didodecyl dimethyl ammonium acetate, or didodecyl dimethyl ammonium hydroxide, or sodium didodecyl sulphate). The leaching is preferably effected using 4M hydrochloric acid at a temperature of from 80 DEG C to 100 DEG C.