Some mineral - chemical composition results of titanium ore from the red sand layer in Binh Thuan area

Abstract

Binh Thuan is an area with great potential for titanium ore in the red sand layer. In previous studies, a suitable scheme of mineral processing and types of equipment had been designed for improving the quality of titanium ore concentrate. However, the existence of manganese in Binh Thuan ilmenite has not been clarified, and therefore, an effective method of separating Mn from ilmenite has not yet been proposed. In this study, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), and Raman spectroscopy method are used to determine the mineral-chemical composition of Binh Thuan ilmenite. The analytical results show that in the study area of ilmenite ore, there was a certain proportion of Mn in the Binh Thuan ilmenite ore with an average of about 3.0%. Manganese is found to exist as a partial isomorphic replacement between Mn2+ and Fe2+ ions in ilmenite mineral crystals, creating an intermediate mineral ilmenite-pyrophanite with the formula (Fex,Mn1-x)TiO3. The obtained research results contribute to the orientation in the separation process, in removing Mn effectively from Ti concentration ore.