The influence of roasting temperature on mineral composition of chrysotile asbestos processing tailings

Serpentinite rocks serve as promising raw materials to produce propants, as well as refractory building materials. Of interest are the tailings of enrichment during the extraction of chrysotile asbestos, since they have already passed the energy-consuming stages of crushing and grinding. The paper describes a study of the change in the material composition of the tailings of enrichment during the extraction of chrysotile asbestos from the Kiembaevsky deposit. It was found that all the studied material (the grain size of which does not exceed 2–3 mm) passes into forsterite, clinoenstatite, periclase, hematite and quartz at a heating temperature of 820 °C and above. The main share in the burnt material is always occupied by forsterite – 73.5–84.4 wt.%, in a smaller amount is clinoenstatite (9.7–19.6 wt.%). The content of minerals remaining in the samples does not exceed 10 wt.%. The change in mineral contents in the burnt enrichment tails varies between 9–10 wt.% depending on the grain size. Such values are associated with the heterogeneous composition of the studied enrichment tails. For a sample fraction of 0.1–0.25 mm, during firing from 820 to 1000 °C, there is a tendency for an increase in the forsterite content and a decrease in the clinoenstatite content. The content of periclase, hematite and quartz in the samples gradually rises to 850–900 °C at first, then gradually begins to fall. Thus, practically ready-made refractory raw materials can be obtained at firing temperatures of 820–850 °C. To improve the quality of these raw materials, it is recommended to increase the firing temperature of the enrichment tailings to 1000 °C.

Fedorov S. A., Davydov S. Ya., Popov M. P., Makarov V. N., Utkina G. M. The influence of roasting temperature on mineral composition of chrysotile asbestos processing tailings. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2024;(12-1):270-285. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/ 0236_1493_2024_121_0_270.

The research was funded in accordance with the state assignment on science for Ural State Mining University No 075-03-2024-132 dated 17.01.2024 and as part of the implementation of the federal program for strategic academic leadership «Priority 2030» (Ural State Mining University).

S.A. Fedorov¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Leading Researcher; Senior Researcher, Institute of Metallurgy of Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 620016, Ekaterinburg, Russia, e-mail: saf13d@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4201-5177,
S.Ya. Davydov¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Chief Researcher, e-mail: davidovtrans@mail.ru,
M.P. Popov¹, Cand. Sci. (Geol. Mineral.), Assistant Professor, Senior Researcher, e-mail: popovm1@yandex.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0527-8234,
V.N. Makarov¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, Professor, e-mail: uk.intelnedra@gmail.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3785-5569,
G.M. Utkina¹, Laboratory Assistant Researcher, e-mail: gal.utk.2013@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0005-4773-2318,
¹ Ural State Mining University, 620144, Ekaterinburg, Russia.

S.A. Fedorova, e-mail: saf13d@mail.ru.

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