Preparation and characterization of Portland cement clinker from iron ore tailings

We report a type of high-magnesium and low-silicon iron ore tailings (IOT) utilized as a raw material replacing clay to produce cement clinkers by conventional sintering process. Properties of the cement clinkers sintered at 1420 degrees C with different IOT addition, from 0 to 20 wt%, were investigated. The chemical and mineralogical analysis, and microscopic examination showed that IOT addition, up to 10 wt%, has little effect on formation of mineralogical phases. Furthermore, physico-mechanical tests showed the IOT addition within 10 wt% did not negatively affect the quality of the produced cement clinkers, on the contrary, could produce better quality clinkers than without IOT. These findings suggest that the high-magnesium and low-silicon IOT has a huge potential as cement raw materials instead of partial natural resources. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.