Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MINING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Volume 30, Issue 5, Pages 715-721Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmst.2020.05.025
Keywords
Mineralogy; Petrography; Flake graphite; Flotation; Saba Boru; Ethiopia
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Funding
- Jimma Institute of Technology through Mega Project
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The mineralogy and petrography of natural graphite in Saba Boru of Ethiopia indicate that there exists flake graphite with a slightly oval structured fine size according to our study on thin and polished sections. Herein, for estimating the carbon content in graphite, the ASTM-0561, the test method for ash in a graphite sample, was used. For characterizing graphite, x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were also used. Chemical analysis of ore samples determined that the average compositions are 63.35% SiO2, 15.45% Al2O3, 2.36% Fe2O3, 2.07% K2O, less than1% others, and loss-on-ignition (LOI) in the range of similar to 4.74%-37.42%. The total carbon content of graphitic ore ranged from 4.11% to 33.14%. Importantly, when graphite is concentrated through floatation, its average purity and recovery are 92.97% and 90.82%, respectively. Furthermore, once the graphite concentrates are treated with hydrofluoric acid, the average value attains a high grade of 96.48% C. Moreover, the average ash content is 81.93% (pre-flotation) and 3.1% (post-flotation), respectively. Finally, after beneficiation, a silica is identified as a major gangue (85.88%), usable as a raw material for other purposes such as cement. Hence, these graphite-bearing rocks seem to be worth exploring for commercialization opportunities. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.
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