Characterization and upgrading of a rutile concentrate produced from the oil sands tailings

A rutile concentrate, recently produced from a novel process developed by Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Lakefield Research Ltd., was characterized and upgraded in this research.;The major contaminants in the rutile concentrate were found to be altered ilmenite and siliceous minerals such as quartz. The altered ilmenite was found to be removable by magnetic separation. In order to remove the siliceous minerals, a reverse flotation process was developed which involved the use of cationic collectors for the siliceous minerals, and several polysaccharides as depressants for rutile. The reverse flotation process was applied to the rutile concentrate after magnetic separation. It was found that the free liberated quartz grains could be completely floated into the flotation concentrate. However, the upgraded rutile still contained moderate amounts of SiO2. Mineralogical and SEM/EDX analysis showed that intimate association (interlocking) between the minerals was the main reason that caused the siliceous minerals to remain in the rutile concentrate. Further process options were proposed based on the results.