Iron Ore’s iron recovery to get a boost from CANMET

It’s expected that as a result of a new company/government technology agreement, the Iron Ore Co. of Canada, (iocc), will be able to considerably improve iron recovery from fine ore now going to tailings at its mine at Carol Lake, Labrador.

Under a 1-year, $897,000 joint venture, the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology, (canmet), a branch of Energy, Mines and Resources, will transfer its flotation recovery technology to work in conjunction with iocc’s magnetic separation methods.

Currently, about 20% of the fine ore is lost in the tailings stream at iocc’s concentrator at Carol Lake. It’s expected that with the flotation recovery technology provided by canmet, average iron recovery can be increased from 72% to more than 80%.

Of the $897,000 cost of the project, iocc will put up $539,000, with the balance, ($358,000) coming from the industrial research assistance program of the National Research Council.

Improvement of iron ore content from tailings will help reduce operating costs and enable the company to postpone major capital expenditures at the Carol Lake mine.

The move will also, it’s understood, mean the production of semi-fluxed pellets to diversify iocc’s product lines and gain entry into new markets.

In-plant pilot testing on the project will be done this year and, if successful, will culminate in modifications in 1989-90.

canmet’s laboratories have been studying techniques for recovering iron ore content from tailings for many years, and its success in using flotation convinced iocc to attempt this large-scale demonstration.