TITLE:
Secondary Recovery of Columbite from Tailing Dump in Nigerian Jos Mines Field
AUTHORS:
F.A Ayeni, I. A Madugu, P. Sukop, S. A Ibitoye, A. A. Adeleke, M Abdulwahab
KEYWORDS:
Tailing dump, columbite, recovery, concentration, characterization, Magnetic, Gravity, Recovery, Assay, Flowsheet
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.11 No.6,
June
15,
2012
ABSTRACT: Millions of tons of tailing dump at Rayfield mine in Jos in North Central Plateau state of Nigeria
have been found to contain large quantity of columbite. Initial attempts to recover columbite
concentrates by local miners and mineral speculators from the columbite rich tailing dump
failed due to the ineffective processing route employed. Using cone and quartering sampling
method, 0.5 kg of the columbite tailing was obtained for sieve and chemical analyses. 50 kg of
2O5, respectively. The recovery and
separation efficiency were 77.95% and 77.88% in that order. The magnetic and gravity
concentrations were found effective at 77.95% recovery for columbite from the Rayfield tailing
dump. This study also provided database for optimum recovery of columbite from tailings of
mining sites of similar composition.