Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808

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Powder Technology

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Review

A review on the enrichment of iron values of low-grade Iron ore

resources using reduction roasting-magnetic separation
Subhnit K. Roy a, Deepak Nayak b, Swagat S. Rath a,b,⁎
a
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad 201002, India
b
CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar 751013, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The beneficiation of low-grade iron ores to meet the growing demand for iron and steel is an important
Received 13 September 2019 research topic. However, certain ores do not qualify to be treated in physical separation processes, and
Received in revised form 9 March 2020 hence, alternative strategies are being looked into for upgrading their iron content. The objective of
Accepted 14 April 2020
this review article is to compile and amalgamate the crucial information regarding the beneficiation of
Available online 15 April 2020
low-grade iron ores using carbothermic reduction followed by magnetic separation, which is a promising
Keywords:
technique to treat iron ores with complex mineralogy and liberation issues. Reduction roasting studies
Low-grade iron ore done for different types low-grade iron ores including oolitic iron ores, banded iron ores, iron ore slimes
Beneficiation and tailings, and industrial wastes have been discussed. The large scale technological advancements in
Reduction roasting reduction roasting and the possibilities of the application of alternative reductants as substitutes for
Microwave coal have also been highlighted.
Magnetic separation © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796
2. Reduction roasting and magnetic separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798
2.1. Oolitic iron ores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799
2.2. Goethitic and limonitic ores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800
2.3. Iron ore fines and tailings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800
2.4. Other low-grade iron ore resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801
2.5. Other resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
3. Emerging trends in reduction roasting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
3.1. Microwave-assisted reduction roasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
3.2. Biomass as reductants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803
3.3. Self-magnetizing roasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804
4. Large scale studies of reduction roasting technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804
5. Concluding remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805

1. Introduction

The iron and steel industry plays a vital role in shaping the economic
status of a country. Iron ore deposits, which provide the necessary raw
⁎ Corresponding author at: CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology,
materials for iron making, are widely scattered all over the world
Bhubaneswar 751013, India. under diverse geological conditions. Among all iron oxides, hematite
E-mail address: ssrath@immt.res.in (S.S. Rath). and magnetite are considered to be the primary input to iron making.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2020.04.047
0032-5910/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
Iron ore demand is strictly a function of steel production volumes. The
consumption pattern of steel showing an increasing trend these days
is a matter of concern as the high-grade iron ores are getting depleted
very fast. Generally, the grade for iron ores used in blast furnace opera-
tion, which is the most common route for iron making, is around
64–65%. The ores having a very low content of iron do not follow the
quality norms of iron making and hence, are discarded as rejects. The
only way to overcome this issue is to enrich the low-grade iron ores
and fines using several mineral processing techniques that exploit the
difference in specific properties of the iron oxide and gangue phases.
Further, the iron ore beneficiation plants that adopt these techniques
to upgrade the low-grade ores reject a lot of tailings and slimes that con-
tain useful iron values. Therefore, the utmost utilization of the low-
grade iron resources such as low-grade iron ores, fines, tailings, and
slimes has emerged as an essential topic for the global mineral engi-
neering fraternity [1].
Classification, gravity concentration, magnetic separation, and flota-
tion are the standard practices to separate the gangue phases from the
iron ores. Gravity separation units exploit the difference between the
specific gravities of the iron oxides and gangues while the success of
magnetic separation depends on the variation in the magnetic suscepti-
bility of the constituent minerals. The ores having ferromagnetic nature
Fig. 1. A schematic diagram of different beneficiation processes for the production of pellet feed concentrate from low-grade iron ores.
797
are suitable for being processed using magnetic separation methods
[2–5], whereas gravity concentration and size classification are applied
to nonmagnetic iron ores [6–11]. The successful applicability of the
physical beneficiation strategies is pretty much dependent on the min-
eralogical characteristics and liberation pattern of the iron ores [12]. The
low-grade ores, where the gangue phases are associated with the iron
phases in a very complicated manner, are challenging to treat. Flotation
is generally considered to treat such ores where the liberation of the tar-
get mineral occurs at a fine size, whereas all other unit operations in-
volving gravity or size classification fail in such cases. However, there
are reports of many difficult-to-treat low-grade iron ores that do not
even respond to flotation, and some of them are being reviewed in the
later parts of this communication.
Alternative beneficiation strategies are now being explored to up-
grade the iron content of the low-grade ores that show a feeble re-
sponse to physical separation processes. Iwasaki and Prasad presented
an overall review of the processing techniques, using the combination
of chemical metallurgy as well as mineral processing, for such iron
ores [13]. They opined that due to the increasing mineralogical com-
plexity in low-grade resources, it is difficult to upgrade their iron con-
tent using conventional mineral processing practices. Therefore,
altering the mineralogy of the ore either by pyro-metallurgical or
798 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
hydrometallurgical route would lower the overall treatment costs. They
discussed the application of the combination of chemical metallurgy
and mineral processing techniques to recover useful iron values from
steel plant wastes, nonferrous slags, smelter flue dust, and anode slimes
both for ecological protection and waste management.
Improvement in liberation by some thermal treatment before
beneficiation and/or phase transformation of hematite and goethite
to magnetite for ease in downstream magnetic separation are the
primary objectives of the alternative beneficiation strategies. Ther-
mal treatment of the ores to develop fractures, and thereby reduce
its strength leading to an ease in comminution and liberation is
one of the methods practised over the years. A good amount of
work on establishing the effect of thermal treatment through con-
ventional as well as microwave heating on rock fracture and libera-
tion has been reported [14–16]. Many workers have also observed
the enhancement in magnetic separation of low-grade iron ores as
a result of thermal treatment [17–20]. Similarly, the application of
ultrasonic waves as a pretreatment method in enhancing the iron re-
covery has been reported [21]. For example, Donskoi et al. [22] used
ultrasonic energy to pre-treat iron ore fines before de-sliming. The
ultrasonic treatment has also been tried for the removal of phospho-
rus and gangues from the oolitic hematite [23]. Magnetic carrier
technology is another alternative strategy, where the magnetic coat-
ings in terms of fine magnetite, colloidal, and oleate colloidal magne-
tite are used to make the magnetic separation of low-grade iron ore
more efficient [24–29].
Reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation is a promising
method to recover the iron values from low-grade iron ores. The process
involves the reduction of the goethite and hematite phases to magne-
tite, which can subsequently be recovered using a low-intensity mag-
netic separation unit. The reduction roasting process, along with the
physical beneficiation processes, as discussed above, are presented
schematically in Fig. 1. Reduction roasting has many advantages over
the physical beneficiation process, such as enhanced iron recovery and
processing of complex and poorly liberated iron ores. Literature reports
a significant number of relevant publications. The objective of the pres-
ent communication is, therefore, to investigate and summarize the re-
lated literature papers on reduction roasting-magnetic separation of
low-grade iron ore resources. It is anticipated that summarizing the
knowledge and experience on this topic would help the research com-
munity to work further in the appropriate direction towards the com-
mercialization of the process.
Fig. 2. Equilibrium-phase diagrams for ironoxide reduction system [38].
2. Reduction roasting and magnetic separation
Reduction roasting involves the conversion of iron oxides such as he-
matite and goethite to magnetite in the presence of carbonaceous re-
ductants. Magnetite is a ferromagnetic product that can be separated
from the gangue phases by magnetic separation operated at a low inten-
sity. Further, the heat received by the ore during the roasting process
creates fractures that also helps in the liberation of the magnetite phases
during grinding. Even though the energy consumption due to roasting is
high, the process of reduction roasting can be advantageous considering
magnetic separation is a more straightforward beneficiation unit com-
pared to units such as flotation. In addition, roasting increases the fria-
bility in the ores, thereby reducing the cost of downstream grinding
[30,31]. The reduction process is mostly gas-based as the carbon present
in the reductant reacts with carbon dioxide to form carbon monoxide
[32–36]. In this process, the dispersion of the ore material is increased,
the bonds between the mineral particles are weakened, and conse-
quently, the iron oxide particles are reduced to the lower state under
the reducing atmosphere. The steps involved in reduction roasting are
given below.
C þ O2 ¼ CO2 ð1Þ
CO2 þ C ¼ 2CO ðhigh temperatureÞ ð2Þ
3Fe2 O3 þ CO ¼ 2Fe3 O4 þ CO2 ð3Þ
In this sequence of reactions, the formation and transport of CO from
the bulk gas phase to the iron particles and adsorption at the interface is
critical. During the reduction process, carbon monoxide can reduce the
trivalent iron to a mixed divalent and trivalent state of iron. For temper-
atures higher than 570 °C, hematite (Fe2O3) is primarily transformed to
magnetite (Fe3O4), then to wustite and finally to metallic iron. In order
to arrest the reaction in the middle way where magnetite is the stable
phase, it is very much essential to study the equilibrium-phase diagrams
for iron oxide systems. The fundamental understanding of the thermo-
dynamics of iron ore reduction was first reported by Dannatt and
Ellingham [37], who proposed a graphical representation on the stan-
dard free energy of the formation of oxides as a function of temperature
which is very important to know about the stability of the compounds at
different temperatures. The phase diagram of the conversion of iron ox-
ides into various forms is shown in Fig. 2. These representations are
 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
beneficial in predicting the conditions under which the ore gets reduced
to the respective metal. The Ellingham diagram suggests that carbon
monoxide is stable only at higher temperatures explaining why most
of the metal oxide reduction occurs at high temperatures. Besides, the
figure illustrates that wustite and iron are stable at high temperatures
(N1000 °C) and CO content. Therefore, magnetite as the reduction prod-
uct can only be achieved below 1000 °C. Nevertheless, with the inclu-
sion of impurities into the iron oxide system, the phase diagram
changes and hence, the formation of magnetite may occur at different
temperatures and CO content.
Given the above, many researchers have worked on the technique of
reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation for almost all types
of low-grade iron ores. The summary of the vital work done in this area
for different varieties of low-grade iron ore resources is presented
below.
2.1. Oolitic iron ores
Oolitic iron ores fall into the category of the complex low-grade iron
ores that seldom respond to any conventional beneficiation units and
hence, the majority of the research publications on reduction roasting
dealt with them [39]. These ores are characterized by their concentric
layers of spherical grains consisting of hematite and goethite along
with silicates and phosphorus as impurities [40]. The microphotograph
of a typical oolitic iron ore sample showing the complex distribution of
mineral phases is depicted in Fig. 3.
Zimmels et al. [41] first published the fundamental knowledge on
the reduction of low-grade oolitic iron ores. They tried its direct reduc-
tion and found that the oolitic ores having smaller shell spacing with
higher porosity are more amenable to direct reduction and also to the
growth of the metallic phase. Later, Uwadiale and Whewell [42] were
the first ones to present a detailed study on the magnetizing reduction
of the Agbaja oolitic iron ore that did not respond to conventional ben-
eficiation techniques like gravity separation, froth flotation, electrostatic
separation, and direct magnetic separation. Reduction roasting was car-
ried out, where the non-magnetic iron minerals were converted to mag-
netite by subjecting the ore to a reducing atmosphere at a temperature
of 600 °C. The magnetic concentrate was separated from the non-
magnetic gangue with the help of magnetic separation. A concentrate
with 60% Fe at 87.3% Fe recovery was obtained from a feed grade of
45.6% Fe.
Further, Youssef and Morsi [43] applied this technique to upgrade
the iron content of a phosphorus and alumina rich low-grade oolitic
iron ore assaying 45.23% Fe. The liberation study confirmed the fine dis-
tribution of the phases in the ore, and thus, fine grinding seemed to be
essential before concentration operations. On comparing the ores re-
duced by CO and H2, it was evident that the product reduced by CO
Fig. 3. The microstructure of an oolitic iron ore showing (a) gangues in circling layered distribution and (b) silica-quartz particles embedded in the middle [Reprinted with permission from
Elsevier [40]].
799
gas showed quite a mild remanence of coercivity than that reduced
using H2. The high coercivity products yielded relatively lower grades
of magnetic concentrates due to the formation of magnetic floccules.
The magnetic concentrates having 59.6% Fe and recoveries of about
90% were achieved using H2 gas at 500 °C, 1.5 L/min flow rate, and 20
min reduction time.
Later, the mechanism of reduction roasting of fine oolite hematite
ores was studied by Yu and Qi [44]. They took iron ore particles with a
size of less than 200 μm and carried out flash magnetizing roasting
with the help of CO gas having a concentration of 3–12% at a velocity
of 0.4 m/s. The temperature for roasting experiments was maintained
at 800–900 °C. They concluded that CO gas diffuses and adsorbs onto
the surface of hematite, thus producing magnetite and carbon dioxide.
It was established that Fe2+ and electrons get generated in the outer
layer and enter the Fe2O3 matrix through empty positions, and thus,
magnetite is generated through lattice construction. A similar reaction
occurs until the inner layer of hematite transforms into magnetite. A
fine size of the ore was taken into consideration so that the homogene-
ity was maintained, and adequate heat and mass transfer could take
place when the reductive gas was applied over it. It was observed that
magnetite formed in 30–60 s of roasting.
Ionkov et al. [45] also used reduction roasting studies to upgrade the
iron grade of an oolitic iron ore assaying 48.76% Fe, 12.41% SiO2, and
5.93% Al2O3. The ore was subjected to beneficiation steps such as reduc-
tion roasting, grinding, and magnetic separation followed by water &
acid leaching, for the removal of phosphorus. The temperature for re-
duction roasting experiments was kept at 900 °C with a retention time
of about 1 h and a reductant dosage up to 8%. Among the additives
used in the roasting, such as lime and sodium hydroxide, the latter
was found to be more efficient. On roasting at high temperature, sodium
hydroxide got liquefied, reacted with different mineral components to
form new phases of Na, Al, and Si that breached through the cracks,
which were confirmed through Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS)
analysis. Further, due to alkaline roasting, goethite partially transformed
into magnetite. The roasted samples were ground to 40 μm followed by
water and acid leaching and dual magnetic separation to obtain a high-
grade concentrate of 65.97% Fe and Fe recovery of 92.43%, with a con-
current decrease in the phosphorus amount from 0.71% to 0.05%.
There are some key research publications on the reduction roasting
of low-grade oolitic iron ore from the west of Hubei Province, China.
Luo et al. [46] achieved a concentrate of 56.34% Fe with a recovery
rate of 88.05% at a roasting temperature of 800 °C for a holding time of
60 min. Wang et al. [47] worked on the suspension roasting technique
for the ore collected from the same region. They found that the magne-
tization intensity and magnetic susceptibility of the roasted ore in-
creased with an increase in reduction time and also with the increase
in roasting temperature ranging from 550 to 650 °C. The process
800 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
showed a reverse effect when the roasting temperature rose to over 700
°C. It was also concluded that when the particle size was less than 15 μm,
the magnetization intensity and magnetic susceptibility decreased with
the decrease in particle size while remanence and coercivity increased
correspondingly. In a recent work on the oolitic ore sample (47.71% Fe
and 0.874% P) from the same region, Zhang et al. [48] have applied re-
duction roasting-magnetic separation to enrich the iron content
followed by reverse flotation, to diminish the P values in the concen-
trate. The optimal conditions for roasting were a temperature of 750
°C, a roasting period of 60 min, coal fines (52.6% FC) of 11%, and a mag-
netic intensity of 200 kA/m. In the roast reduction-magnetic separation
process, the Fe grade increased to 58.52% with a concurrent decrease in
P content to 0.70% and a total Fe recovery of about 89.63%. With the sub-
sequent reverse flotation separation technique, Fe grade further in-
creased to 61.78% with a further decrease in the phosphorus content
to 0.23% at a corresponding Fe recovery of about 83.84%. This approach
was almost similar to the one adopted by Jie et al. [49] for the oolitic iron
ore sample of the same region.
In a recent work, Peng et al. [50] have used reduction roasting and
magnetic separation to enrich an ore collected from Hubei province
having a feed grade of 49% Fe. The results showed that roasting time
has a significant influence on the iron yield and a minor impact on the
iron grade of the concentrate. Iron recovery significantly increased
from 10 to 60 min and was more distinct for the first 30 min. In contrast,
the Fe recovery slightly decreased from 70 to 80 min due to the forma-
tion of weakly magnetic phases like wustite and fayalite, whereas the
reduction degree considerably increased from 10 to 50 min. They also
provided further information on the quantitative analysis of the
roasting-magnetic separation of oolitic ores collected from the same
place [40]. The hematite content was found to be decreasing with tem-
perature, while the magnetite content increased from 600 to 800 °C to a
maximum of about 64% at 800 °C. However, the magnetite content de-
creased to 41% at a temperature of 900 °C. Beyond this temperature,
phases like wustite and fayalite were observed. Besides, there are
some publications that report the direct reduction of high phosphorus
oolitic hematite followed by magnetic separation [51,52]. Some workers
have also used additives, such as CaO and Na2CO3, for direct reduction to
improve the recovery of metallic iron and dephosphorization rate
[53,54].
2.2. Goethitic and limonitic ores
Goethite is an iron-bearing hydroxide mineral, while limonite ores
consist of a mixture of hydrated iron (III) oxide-hydroxides in varying
compositions. The presence of goethite and limonites in iron ores,
mostly the lateritic ones, creates a problem in the physical beneficiation
process primarily because of their weak magnetic susceptibility, brittle-
ness, intricate liberation pattern, and association of many undesired el-
ements [55]. In this regard, many researchers have attempted the
beneficiation of such goethitic ores by the coupled approach of reduc-
tion roasting and magnetic separation. Some of the related research
publications are discussed below.
Zhang et al. [56] used the flash magnetizing roasting technique for
the limonitic ores collected from Huangmei, Hubei province. The reduc-
tion was done by carbon monoxide gas and the best results obtained
were an iron grade of 60.67% with an iron recovery of 94.49% under
the conditions such as a temperature of 800–950 °C, a CO volume frac-
tion of 3.5% and a solid to gas ratio of 0.5–0.8 kg/m3. Similarly, Zhu
et al. [30] obtained a Fe grade of 62.94% with a total Fe recovery of
88% from the limonite ore (with total Fe of 48.01%) collected from
Anhui provinces, East China. They used 5% coal fines as reductant and
maintained a temperature of 850 °C with a holding time of 15 min.
In another study, Zhang et al. [57] used a waste slag (19.39% Fe) from
the pyrite roasting process obtained from the Sichuan province of China.
The mineral forms of iron, chiefly, included red limonite, magnetite, and
ferrosilite. Optimum reduction roasting parameters determined were a
roasting time of 20 min at a temperature of 850 °C and a coke addition of
5% of the slag weight while the particle size of coke was kept at 1 mm.
Under these conditions, the iron content in the concentrate
obtained was 57% with 70% iron recovery. This iron content could be in-
creased up to 83% after treatment with chlorinated segregation–
magnetic separation. The procedure further lowered the content of sul-
phur and other gangue minerals.
Faris et al. [58] investigated the coal-based magnetizing roasting of a
goethite-rich rare-earth ore. They observed that as the roasting temper-
ature was increased to more than 650 °C, the magnetite phase was not
stable enough due to its tendency to form non-magnetic phases like
wustite and fayalite, resulting in the loss of valuable iron content in
the tailings. The process sequence followed the dehydroxylation of goe-
thite to hematite, followed by reduction into magnetite. Scanning Elec-
tron Microscopy (SEM) of the partially reduced ore at 650 °C depicted
the formation of magnetite by sponge-like growth covered over the
rare-earth and gangue materials. A notable point in the work was that
the valuable rare-earth mineral monazite did not undergo decomposi-
tion during roasting. Hence, a beneficial recovery of the same was pos-
sible. Another noteworthy reduction roasting study of a goethitic ore
collected from the Gua mines of Jharkhand, having 58% Fe with 4.97%
LOI, indicated that it was possible to obtain 66.6% Fe with a Fe recovery
of 90.4% at 800 °C with 30 min reduction time and 10% coal [38]. Very
recently, Wu et al. [59] gave an insight into the effect of calcium carbon-
ate introduced during the roasting of a limonitic refractory iron oxide
having 40.1% Fe. The reaction mechanism proved that kaolinite, a
major gangue in the ore, got thermally dehydrated to amorphous
metakaolin, and thus, CaCO3 reacting with it formed an acid-soluble
product, i.e., Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 which was further removed by acid leaching
process. The three-staged reduction roasting-acid leaching followed by
magnetic separation resulted in an iron concentrate of 53.73% Fe with
a total Fe recovery of 88.20%.
2.3. Iron ore fines and tailings
Iron ore fines generated during mining of high-grade iron ores and
tailings collected during the washing of the iron ores usually do not
find application in iron making mostly due to size constraints and
poor iron content. Reduction roasting has been proposed as an alterna-
tive for many such samples, and some of them are listed below.
Hanna and Anazia [60] used reduction roasting of hematite fines
from two different regions as a pre-treatment before conducting flota-
tion and magnetic separation. Though both the processes yielded al-
most a similar Fe grade of about 60–61%, the process of reduction
followed by magnetic separation showed a better iron recovery com-
pared to reduction followed by flotation. Uwadiale [61] examined the
efficacies of different beneficiation techniques for upgrading iron ore
fines. The processes of magnetizing reduction and oil agglomeration
were found to be superior compared to all other routes, such as flotation
using a size less than 500 μm without using a desliming step, reverse flo-
tation, selective flocculation, electrolytic coagulation, and acid leaching.
The iron ore sample having 95% particles with a size of less than 5 μm
could be enriched to concentrates with more than 60% grade. Also, the
reduction roasting methodology was found to be more economical
concerning energy consumption.
Li et al. [62] investigated the processing of iron ore tailings where the
majority of the phases present were Fe2O3, CaO, alumina, and quartz,
and most of the hematite and quartz were finely dispersed making the
ore challenging to be separated physically. Reduction roasting was car-
ried out at a ratio of coal: iron ore tailings as 1:100, a temperature of 800
°C, and a residence time of 30 min followed by 15 min grinding time.
The grade of resulting magnetic fraction was 61.3% Fe with an iron re-
covery of 88.2%. Jang et al. [63] reported a new approach of dehydroxyl-
ation followed by reduction roasting and magnetic separation to
upgrade the goethite rejects of an iron ore mine from the Pilbara region
of Western Australia. The sample was having a particle size of less than 2
 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
mm where orcheous goethite and kaolinite dominated the fine fraction
below 25 μm. The optimum temperature for the transformation of goe-
thite to magnetite through reduction roasting was found to be in the
range between 650 °C and 700 °C.
In another investigation, Zhang et al. [64] used the magnetizing
roasting technique to recycle the iron values present in Baotou rare
earth tailings. With the proportion of CO: CO2 at 40:60, reducing gas
flow rate at 1.2 L/min, a temperature of 580 °C and time of 60 min, a con-
centrate of 60% Fe with a recovery of around 70% could be obtained from
the magnetic separation of the roasted mass at an intensity of 3000 G.
Similarly, gas-based fluidized magnetization roasting was done by
Jianwen et al. [65] using CO as the reducing gas and N2 as the fluidizing
gas to treat an iron ore tailing (33.19% Fe) collected from Anshan Prov-
ince, China. Under conditions such as a temperature of 540 °C and a gas
mixture of 4 m3/h CO and 1 m3/h N2, most of the hematite and siderite
particles were converted to magnetite successfully, except for the
coarse ones, leading to a magnetic concentrate of 61.4% Fe with 81.8%
iron recovery.
Yu et al. [66] conducted coal-based reduction roasting of a very fine
sample having a size of less than 74 μm and Fe content of about 34.6%.
Bituminous coal with fixed carbon of 67.83% was used as the reductant.
The hematite and siderite present in the ore were found entirely con-
verted to magnetite by 8 wt% coal at a roasting temperature of 800 °C
for a holding time of 8 min. Under optimized conditions, a magnetic
concentrate containing 65.4% Fe with an iron recovery of 92.7% was
achieved. Very recently, Li et al. [67] worked on the tailings from the An-
shan mining area with an iron grade of 10.60%. The process included the
combination of low-intensity magnetic separation and high-intensity
magnetic separation with fluidized magnetizing roasting. The results
obtained were 65.30% Fe with an iron recovery of 85.85% at a roasting
temperature of 600 °C for a period of 20 s with a gas flow rate of 8
m3/h H2.
2.4. Other low-grade iron ore resources
In addition to the significant low-grade iron ores as discussed above,
there are several other categories of such resources for which reduction
roasting-magnetic separation has been successfully adopted. The critical
excerpts of some of them are discussed below.
During the mining of high-grade hematite ores, vast quantities of
low-grade banded ores such as Banded Hematite Quartzite (BHQ) and
Fig. 4. SEM micrograph showing the fine dispersion of hematite within jasper band [63].
801
Banded Hematite Jasper (BHJ) get generated and remain unused at
the mine site because of the low-grade and liberation issues. The iron
bands in such ores constitute hematite, magnetite or maghemite,
whereas the silica bands are rich in either quartz or the reddish jasper
with fine inclusion of iron particles. These ores, on an average, contain
around 30–40% Fe, 40–50% SiO2 and 0.5–2.5% Al2O3 [12]. The BHJ ores,
in particular, do not get beneficiated in conventional routes. For exam-
ple, when subjected to flotation, they do not give rise to a useful iron
or concentrate, the reason being the sub-micron sized hematite grains
found dispersed in the quartz phases. Besides, the intricate and mosaic
textural intergrowth between hematite and quartz in BHJ ore makes it
a very complex ore to treat [68]. The SEM micrograph given in Fig. 4 in-
dicates the fine dispersion of thick jasper band over the hematite grains
and the intimate association of fine hematite and quartz grains near the
boundaries. The EDS results shown in Fig. 4 reveal that a high amount of
Fe to the tune of 9.74% is present in the jasper band.
In this regard, Ray et al. [69] provided an innovative approach to
complete utilization of a low-grade BHJ ore assaying 47% to address
the issue of the usage of the non-magnetic tailing from the reduced
mass. Using roast reduction-magnetic separation, they obtained an
iron grade of 66% Fe with a Fe recovery of 72% under optimum reducing
conditions of temperature: 900 °C, time: 90 min, and coal-to-feed ratio:
0.15. The silica-rich non-magnetic portion was smelted in a lab-scale
electric arc furnace to produce a ferrosilicon alloy. A conceptual
flowsheet describing the process is depicted in Fig. 5.
Zhu et al. [70] provided a novel approach to upgrading and removing
the phosphorus from a low-grade iron ore assaying 47.28% Fe by using
reduction roasting-magnetic separation followed by acid leaching pro-
cess. An iron concentrate of 62.35% Fe was achieved with 0.20% phos-
phorus content while the recovery of iron was 90.54%. The
dephosphorization rate by acid leaching for 2 h at 2.5 liquid: solid
ratio using 50 kg/t sulfide acid was 87.42%.
In another investigation, Li and Zhu [71] used the fluidized bed mag-
netizing roasting technique for recovering iron from a low grade (34.6%
Fe) hematite ore. The magnetic susceptibility of the roasted sample at a
temperature of 700 °C, and a gas ratio of 5% CO-95% CO2, was found op-
timum when roasted for 20 min. The best results of a Fe grade of 62.5%
and a Fe recovery of 91.1% were achieved with the magnetic field inten-
sity of 1500 G and a particle size of about 74 μm.
The process of reduction roasting and magnetic separation was opti-
mized using the combined approach of central composite rotatable
802 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
Fig. 5. Flowsheet for production of iron-rich magnetic concentrate and ferrosilicon alloy
[69].
design and response surface methodology for a low-grade iron ore sam-
ple with 51.6% Fe [72]. The optimum results were a total Fe of about
63.3% with a recovery of about 79% under conditions like temperature:
950 °C, retention time: 53 min, and reductant dosage: 3%. In another
work, Rath et al. [73] adopted the process comprising of reduction
roasting followed by two stages of magnetic separation, i.e., LIMS and
WHIMS. An iron ore assaying 57% Fe could be upgraded to an iron con-
centrate of 63–64% Fe at a Fe recovery of more than 85% under the con-
ditions such as temperature: 1050 °C, roasting time: 90 min and
charcoal (reductant): 4%. In the same way, Yu et al. [74] applied reduc-
tion roasting for a low-grade carbonate-bearing iron ore comprising of
34.6% Fe. An iron concentrate encompassing 65.4% Fe with an iron re-
covery of 92.6% was achieved under reducing conditions like roasting
temperature: 800 °C, roasting time: 8 min, and bituminite to ore ratio:
10:100.
Gas-based reduction roasting was adopted by Zhao et al. [75], who
studied the synergistic effect of 3 gas-based reductants like CO, H2 and
water-gas (CO + H2) on low-grade siderite fines. It was found that the
water-gas mixture improved the magnetization roasting by reducing
the activation energy of the process and hence, accelerated the reaction
rate. Zhao et al. [76] further revealed the optimum condition obtained
from the method mentioned above, which was preheating at 550 °C
for 30 s followed by magnetizing roasting at 550 °C for 60 s at 0.5 m/s
gas fluidization velocity in a 13.3% CO + 6.7% H2 + 80% N2 atmosphere.
A magnetic concentrate containing 62.6% iron grade with an iron recov-
ery of 89.2% was obtained.
2.5. Other resources
The approach of reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation
has also been adopted to recover the iron values from tailings of many
other non-ferrous industries. Below are the highlights of some notable
relevant research communications.
Zhang et al. [77] provided an innovative approach for the recovery of
iron from cyanide tailings with the help of reduction roasting accompa-
nied by water leaching followed by its magnetic separation. The cyanide
tailings are solid wastes generated in the process of extraction of gold
from gold ore. The parameters in the reduction roasting stage to achieve
the optimum results were a weight ratio of cyanide tailings: activated
carbon: sodium carbonate: sodium sulfate at 100:10:3:10, and a tem-
perature of about 750 °C with a holding time of about 60 min. Further,
the roasted sample was water-leached at optimized conditions of liquid
to solid ratio of 15:1 (ml/g), a temperature of 60 °C for 5 min, and a stir-
ring speed of 20 rpm. The magnetic separation of the leached residue
was done at an exciting current of 2A, and the highest grade and recov-
ery achieved were about 59.11% and 75.12%, respectively. Similarly,
Bailong et al. [78] used cyanide tailings of a gold smelting company
and studied its magnetic property as a function of reduction. With a re-
ductant (coke) of about 6% at a temperature of 750 °C and a roasting
time of 1.25 h, the magnetic susceptibility of iron was enhanced up to
86.27%.
Li et al. [79] conducted a selective reduction roasting technique on
zinc leaching residue to recover iron content from the same. It was ob-
served that ZnFe2O4 got decomposed into four stages, firstly, the reduc-
tion of ZnFe2O4 into ZnO and Fe3O4, secondly, the reduction of Fe3O4 to
FeO, thirdly, the formation of Fe0.85 − xZnxO, and lastly, the reduction of
FeO to Fe. An iron concentrate of 58.6% of Fe grade was achieved with
68.4% of Fe recovery after the residue was roasted at a temperature of
750 °C for 60 min under a carbon to residue ratio of 4%. On a similar
note, Lei et al. [80] used roasted lead-zinc tailings for the enhancement
of valuable metals such as Fe, Ag, Ga, Mn, and Pb with the help of mag-
netization roasting followed by its magnetic separation. Most of the iron
content in the tailings was transformed into magnetite, as confirmed by
the microstructural and mineralogical studies. The maximum Fe recov-
ery achieved was 82.16% with a Fe grade of 62.14% at a roasting temper-
ature of 720 °C and coal to feed ratio of about 7:100. The tailing
produced was used for the augmentation of other valuable metals
with higher enrichment ratios.
Red mud, a waste by-product in the aluminium industry, is consid-
ered as another important source of iron. It is deemed to be hazardous
because of its numerous radioactive and heavy metal contents. There-
fore, in the last few decades, many of the researchers have attempted
the successful disposal of red mud and recovery of useful metal values
from it [81,82]. Reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation is
one of the processes adopted to recover iron values from red mud. In
this context, hydrogen-based reduction roasting on red mud was car-
ried out, and about 87% of the iron oxide content was converted to mag-
netite leading to a yield of 54% [83].
3. Emerging trends in reduction roasting
3.1. Microwave-assisted reduction roasting
Microwave energy is a non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation
with frequencies in the range of 0.3–300 GHz though the frequency of
2.45 GHz is commonly used in industrial applications. Microwave en-
ergy is primarily different from conventional heating because it pene-
trates deep into the volume and offers non-contact and rapid
 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
material-selective heating [84]. In this context, Haque et al. [85] pre-
sented a review on the application of microwave in the mineral engi-
neering domain. The communication touched upon the research work
carried out on the implementation of microwaves in various processes
like grinding, leaching, drying, heating, roasting, waste management,
and carbothermic reduction of oxide minerals.
Many researchers have studied the fundamental aspects of
microwave-aided reduction of iron oxides, which ultimately paved the
way for reduction roasting of low-grade iron ores using the microwave.
For example, a theoretical study on the microwave heating characteris-
tics of hematite and magnetite was carried out by Hayashi et al. [86],
who concluded that hematite ore gets hardly heated from room tem-
perature by microwave. It was also found that the reduction rate of he-
matite powders with graphite as a reductant is faster as compared to
magnetite powders. Kashimura et al. [87] used microwave energy for
the carbothermic reduction of magnetite. They found that the magnetic
field produced by the microwave generates a very low temperature and
rapidly heats the centre of the powder while E-H mixed-mode gave
higher temperatures.
Furthermore, the microwave magnetic field resulted in lower FeO
content and higher α-Fe as compared to the E-H mixed mode. Thus, it
was clear that the collective effect of microwave magnetic field and
thermal energy enhances the de-oxidation of iron ore and microwaves
act as a catalyst at high temperatures. In another communication, Yin
et al. [88] combined the carbothermic reduction using microwave irra-
diation and magnetic separation for the possible dephosphorization of
a high-P iron ore. The increase of microwave irradiation time was
found to have a substantial effect on the reduction of Fe, while the influ-
ence of carbon addition on the reduction process was not apparent. A
high iron recovery of 82.1% and a reasonable degree of
dephosphorization of 32.5% were possible under the conditions investi-
gated in this study.
Samouhos et al. [89] applied microwave energy for the reduction
roasting of an alternative source of hematite like red mud using lignite
reductant having 30.15% of fixed carbon. The dielectric constants were
measured, and it was found that as a result of the reduction of hematite,
the imaginary permittivity (ε”) increased, and thus, the microwave ab-
sorption increased during the reduction roasting process. A magnetic
concentrate with 35.1% Fe and 69.3% metallization was achieved after
subjecting the roasted mass to wet magnetic separation. It was observed
that the duration of microwave-based reduction is approximately 40%
shorter compared to the conventional route. A comparison of micro-
wave and conventional reduction roasting was also presented by Rath
et al. [73], who found that the grade and recovery obtained using both
the routes are nearly equal while microwave roasting offers the advan-
tage of the minimal formation of undesired products like wustite and
fayalite. Agarwal et al. [90] too compared the iron recovery from red
mud through conventional and microwave roasting techniques. It was
found that the microwave route provided a significantly improved
iron grade and recovery at lower levels of time and charcoal dosage,
faster reduction rate, cleaner processing and reasonably better economy
in comparison to conventional roasting. The products obtained were
rich in magnetite, wustite and ferrite phase, suitable to be used in alter-
native iron making units. In both the routes, the ferrite phase was
formed; but in the microwave, these ferrite balls were found with con-
siderable size and purity. An iron concentrate with 47% Fe and 88% Fe re-
covery was achieved from a feed grade of 33.5% Fe at the optimal
microwave roasting conditions of temperature: 1000 °C; roasting
time: 10 min and charcoal dosage of 11% C.
Wu et al. [91,92] reported the phase transformation of iron present
in the limonite ore sample by microwave roasting with the addition of
alkali lignin. Iron oxides present in the limonitic sample could be re-
duced to magnetic iron oxides including γ-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 in the fol-
lowing sequence: FeOOH/α-Fe2O3➔ γ-Fe2O3➔Fe3O4 with the addition
of alkali lignin below 5%. The study of magnetic properties using vibrat-
ing sample magnetometer (VSM) depicted that an iron concentrate
803
encompassing 88.72% magnetic iron oxides with a maximum saturation
magnetization of 41.393 emu/g is achievable from the roasted ore ob-
tained by microwave roasting at a temperature of 200 °C and a power
of 600 W with 5% alkali lignin for a roasting time of 30 min. Rayapudi
et al. [93] used microwave-based reduction roasting followed by mag-
netic separation for banded iron ore (32% Fe) and achieved an optimum
grade of 57.19% Fe and 17.82% iron recovery under optimum conditions
like power: 540 W; charcoal dosage: 7% and roasting time: 3 min. Sim-
ilarly, microwave-aided carbothermal reduction of a low-grade banded
hematite jasper iron ore (~37% Fe) was investigated by Rayapudi et al.
[94]. The conditions optimized from the statistical design were 720 W
power, 9% charcoal, and 8 min roasting time, which led to ~61.6% Fe
and ~73.4% iron recovery. Apart from enriched iron values, ferrite balls
were observed due to the rapid melting of the ore-coal mixture at the
experimental conditions of 900 W power, 12% charcoal, and 8 min of
roasting time with a saturation magnetization of ~153 emu/g. Sunil
et al. [95] explored the microwave reduction response of an iron ore
slime sample assaying 56.1% Fe using four different types of reductants,
i.e., coconut shell, goat dung, cow dung, and charcoal. Among them, co-
conut shell was found to be a promising one leading to an iron concen-
trate of 64.3% Fe with a total Fe recovery of 97%.
The majority of the studies related to microwave-based reduction
dealt with a minimal sample amount and high-grade reductants like
graphite or charcoal. However, Roy et al. [96] did similar studies for
two low-grade iron ore samples at a scale of about 500 g and used a
low-grade coal sample as the reductant. It was established that the ore
having magnetite responds much better to MW-assisted reduction
roasting compared to the goethetic ore having precisely the same Fe
content. They found that a blend of the goethite-rich ore with the
titano-magnetite ore at a weight ratio of 60:40, when subjected MW
roasting and magnetic separation, could result in a concentrate of
61.57% Fe with a Fe recovery of 64.47%. Nevertheless, intensive research
on scale-up and the use of low-grade coals as a reductant is highly es-
sential to understand the commercial feasibility of the MW process.
3.2. Biomass as reductants
Iron and steel making industries are big consumers of coke for their
blast furnace operations. With a limited stock of high-grade coking coal,
the steel industries in a country like India mostly depend on imports. It
is also evident that the global reserve of high-grade coking coals is de-
pleting very fast. The direct iron making process can run with low-
grade non-coking coal, but usually, they end up with a massive quantity
of greenhouse gases. Therefore, it is worthwhile to develop other
sources of reductants that can act as a substitute for coal or coke. Several
researchers have reported the use of alternative reductants like biomass
that come under the renewable category.
Biomass contains a good amount of volatile carbonaceous matter,
which generates different reducing gases such as CH4, H2, CO2, and CO.
Besides, they produce a tremendous amount of heat that accelerates
the reduction process. Therefore, many workers have reported the use
of biomass as reductants for iron oxides. Ellid et al. [97] used starch as
a reducing agent for the reduction of hematite in air. It was observed
that the magnetite formation at a temperature of 580 °C was mainly
due to the combustion of organic intermediaries and carbon present
in the starch. Notably, wustite was not present in any of the conducted
experiments. Sawdust containing 80.7% volatile matter was used as a re-
ductant for hematite [98]. The results suggested that 10% of sawdust
was sufficient to reduce hematite to magnetite, while 30% was good
enough to reduce it further to metallic iron. In another work, Ooi et al.
[99] used sunflower seed husks as a supplementary fuel in the iron
ore reduction process. It was found that the sunflower husks could suc-
cessfully replace 10% of the coke energy without deteriorating the qual-
ity of the product, thereby increasing the productivity by 6.4%.
Similarly, biomass powder consisting of pine sawdust, corn straw,
and rice shell has been used as a reducing agent to produce high
804 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
magnetization products in the sintering of goethite ore. Biomass has
also been used to reduce limonite [100] and hematite fines [101].
There is a report on the use of briquette composites of iron ore (58.1%
Fe) and char derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch pyrolysis [102].
The reduction process was conducted out at 600–900 °C under argon at-
mosphere in an electric furnace. The results from X-ray diffraction
(XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) indicated that the original iron
oxide hydrate has converted to partial wustite through several stages
leading to an increase in iron content up to 62.7% for 6:4 ore/char ratio.
Rath et al. [103] used cow dung as a reductant for the reduction
roasting-magnetic separation of the Barsua iron ore slime assaying
iron values around 56.2%. The proximate analysis of the cow dung
showed that it contained a fixed carbon of 8.66%, with a volatile matter
of 41.27%. The magnetic concentrate achieved had about 64% Fe with a
yield of about 66%, and the statistically optimized conditions were a
temperature of 700 °C, reduction time of 45 min, and a reductant to
feed ratio of 0.25. Under similar conditions with activated charcoal as
the reductant, the slime could be upgraded to 66% Fe with a yield of
about 35% proving cow dung to be a better reductant mostly because
of the high volatile content. Similarly, Rath et al. [104] used biomass bri-
quettes, prepared from unutilized vegetative leftovers, as the reductant
for the reduction roasting of the same slime. The bio-briquettes (fixed
carbon: 17.65%, volatile matter: 66.13%) could upgrade the slime sam-
ple to a magnetic concentrate of 65% Fe at a yield of about 64%. The op-
timum reducing conditions were found to be: temperature- 650-750 °C,
retention time- 30-45 min, reductant size- 1-3.35 mm, and reductant to
feed ratio: 0.15. Likewise, Zhang et al. [105] also used biomass for the
magnetizing purpose of Baotou low-grade limonitic ore in a high-
temperature vacuum furnace. The purpose of vacuum roasting was
the formation of ash shells, which was mainly formed due to the migra-
tion and accumulation of sulphur over the entire surface of limonite. The
saturation magnetization of iron concentrate achieved was found to be
43.06 emu/g after roasting at a temperature of 700 °C.
Nayak et al. [106] applied the waste coconut shells (FC: 18.19%, VM:
73.35%) as the reductant in the reduction roasting-magnetic separation
for an iron ore overburden sample (49% Fe) which was mostly a goe-
thite rich ore encompassing kaolinite as the primary gangue mineral.
A concentrate of 63.2% Fe with an iron recovery of 66.2% was obtained
after roasting at a temperature of 800 °C, time of 60 min, and a reductant
to feed ratio of 0.2.
Most of the studies concerning biomass as reductants involved
laboratory-scale experiments. Therefore, pilot-scale trials are essential
before establishing them as reductants. Furthermore, the successful ap-
plications of these biomass residues as reductants are pretty much de-
pendant on their availability, which is a matter of concern.
3.3. Self-magnetizing roasting
Many researchers have used siderite (FeCO3) along with other low-
grade iron ores to avoid any extra usage of reductant considering the
generation of CO2 and CO upon the dissociation of siderite itself. Chun
et al. [107] took siderite ore (35.92% Fe) and hematite ore (48.94% Fe),
and conducted reduction roasting and magnetic separation studies
without any addition of reductant. The optimal grade and yield were
about 61.56% and 91.12%, respectively, under conditions such as a
mass ratio of siderite: hematite (S:H) of 4:1, roasting time of 20 min,
and a temperature of 850 °C. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of
magnetite at these conditions, whereas the presence of wustite with
an increase in the roasting time of more than 30 min was confirmed.
Over-reduction occurred at a higher S: H ratio, thereby decreasing the
iron grade and yield of the concentrate. On a similar note, Sun et al.
[108] did magnetization roasting of a hematitic ore (67.24% Fe) by
using siderite (45.01% Fe) as the reductant. The ideal roasting conditions
were found to be a siderite dosage of 40% with a roasting temperature of
700 °C and a roasting time of 10 min. The saturation magnetization of
the roasted product at optimal conditions was 70.19 A m2 kg−1. A prod-
uct of 66.76% Fe content and 98.05% Fe recovery was achieved.
In an attempt to use industrial wastes as a reductant, Blast Furnace
Flue Dust (BFD) was used for the reduction roasting of Indian banded
iron ore [109]. The banded iron ore contained 47.2% Fe with 27.6%
SiO2 while the BFD contained 32.13% Fe. A concentrate having a grade
63% Fe with an iron recovery of 68% could be achieved under conditions
like temperature: 850 °C, roasting time: 90 min, and BFD to ore ratio:
0.4. Identical studies were also done by Zhao et al. [110] using blast fur-
nace sludge (30.21% Fe and 21.84% C) as a reductant for a low-grade py-
rite cinder (35.55% Fe). The optimal magnetizing roasting–magnetic
separation process conditions were a ratio of blast furnace sludge and
pyrite cinder at 40: 60, and a roasting temperature of 750 °C with a
time of 30 min. An iron concentrate with 59.23% Fe and a Fe recovery
of 71.65% could be obtained. Rath and Rao [111] employed dolochar, a
carbonaceous waste generated in the sponge iron industry, as a reduc-
tant in the reduction roasting of Barsua iron ore slime. The slime was
upgraded to 64% Fe at a yield of 71% under roasting conditions such as
temperature: 900 °C, reductant to ore ratio: 0.35, and total reduction
time: 30–45 min. Since these studies used no supplementary carbon
source, they were considered in the category of self-magnetizing
roasting.
4. Large scale studies of reduction roasting technique
The discussions so far have mostly been devoted to the reduction
roasting behaviour of low-grade iron ore resources having different
mineralogy or texture. The majority of the studies dealt with
laboratory-scale trials. However, a few attempts have also been carried
out at pilot or commercial scale. Some of the key results of such studies
are being covered in this section.
Jiuquan Iron & Steel Co Ltd. (JISCO), China used 100 m3 shaft fur-
naces for reduction roasting-magnetic separation of refractory hematite
and specularite ores using blast furnace gas (containing 29 vol% CO and
3 vol% H2) as reductant. In this process, an iron ore concentrate contain-
ing 59.7% Fe at an iron recovery of 77.6% could be achieved from a feed
grade of 35% Fe [112]. However, the shaft furnace suffered from signifi-
cant technical drawbacks. It could treat ores having a granularity of 15–
75 mm, and the residence period of the ore inside the furnace was as
high as 6–10 h. Furthermore, the reduction was found to be very hetero-
geneous with the fine particles getting over-reduced to wustite while
the inner portion of the lumpy particles was not fully converted to
magnetite.
There have been many attempts on reduction roasting using rotary
kilns. A large-scale ϕ4 m × 60 m rotary kiln was used to roast a limonite
ore (assaying 40.7% Fe) from Xinjiang, China. Roasting at conditions
such as a temperature of 750 °C, a processing capacity of 50 t/h, and a
coal/ore mass ratio of 6% followed by magnetic separation could lead
to an iron grade of 62% at a Fe recovery of 90%. Further, the process
was scaled up to annual throughput of 2 million tons of limonite
[113]. Similarly, the limonite ore from Yunnan, China was subjected to
reduction roasting in a similar rotary kiln, and the roasting followed
by magnetic separation gave a grade of 58.4% with an iron recovery of
93.9% at a roasting temperature of 850 °C, a residence period of 80
min with a processing rate of 45 t/h [114]. Oolitic iron ore with 39.4%
Fe was also successfully upgraded to concentrate of 65.9% Fe at 78.9%
Fe recovery using the magnetizing roasting in a pilot-scale (ϕ0.8 m ×
9 m) rotary kiln [115]. Though the separation efficiency in rotary kilns
was better compared to shaft furnaces, the average energy consumption
in the former was around 42% higher [113]. The process was also found
to have significant bottlenecks, such as the formation of undesired
phases like fayalite and a short good running period.
Apart from shaft furnaces and rotary kilns, magnetization roasting
studies have also been carried out with the help of fluidized bed fur-
naces that have significant advantages such as the ability to handle
fine size particles with high efficiency of heat and mass transfer. The
 S.K. Roy et al. / Powder Technology 367 (2020) 796–808
reduction roasting-magnetic separation process was conducted in a
semi-industrial mode using a siderite ore having a total Fe of about
15.1% collected from Daxigou Iron Mine. The ore could be upgraded to
53.3% Fe with a Fe recovery of 70.5% [116]. In another study, a Yunnan
limonite iron ore with 33% Fe was subjected to a pilot-scale multistage
circulating fluidized bed magnetization roasting, which featured a low
roasting temperature of nearly about 450 °C. With the consumption of
roasting energy of about 36 kg standard coal per ton of raw ore, the
iron grade of ore could be increased up to 57% with a total Fe recovery
of 95% [117]. A carbonate-bearing hematite ore was used in a pilot-
scale fluidized roasting system with a throughput of 150 kg/h that
could yield a concentrate of 66.8% Fe with total Fe recovery of 91.2%.
The optimized results were attained with gas flow rates of 4 m3/h CO
and 1 m3/h N2 at a roasting temperature of 540 °C [118,119]. Under al-
most similar circumstances, Zhang et al. [120] carried out the beneficia-
tion of refractory iron ore with 38.18% Fe from Jingtieshan Mine. An iron
concentrate of 60.1% Fe and 90.1% of total Fe recovery was obtained
while keeping the feeding rate of the ore as 100 kg/h. It is noteworthy
that Yu et al. [121] have provided a more detailed review of these
large scale studies while highlighting the pros and cons of the process-
ing techniques.
The commercial applicability of fluidized bed roasting techniques is
yet to be established because of some factors such as pumping provi-
sions and pressure drop. In order to maintain a high fluid velocity in
pilot-scale operations, additional pumping arrangements are to be
made in the reactor, which would inevitably add up to the higher en-
ergy costs [122]. Also, the high gas velocities present in the reactor
often result in the entrapment of fine particles. Similarly, the problems
associated with the large-scale application of microwaves are non-
uniform temperature gradient and reverse heating pattern, where the
heat gets trapped inside the material leading to thermal runways and
subsequent incomplete reduction of the entire ore [123]. Besides,
there are critical parameters, such as the positioning of the magnetrons
and cavity design, that decide the efficiency of MW heating. Moreover,
the physiochemical nature of the material that determines its MW ab-
sorbing property is also to be considered. Such complications in the
pilot-scale operation can be a challenging and expensive problem.
Therefore, extensive research on these aspects is needed before the
commercializiation of the processes.
5. Concluding remarks
The coupled approach of reduction roasting and magnetic separa-
tion for low-grade iron ore resources has gained substantial interest in
recent years because most of the physical beneficiation operations are
not competent enough to treat the complex iron ores. As evident from
the review of the publications covered in this article, the process offers
advantages compared to the conventional ones in terms of enhanced
Fe grade and recovery. The process does not involve any complex flow
sheet, grinding of the roasted product is relatively easier, and the sepa-
ration of iron values can be done at low magnetic intensity. Moreover,
some researchers have proposed the judicious use of the non-
magnetic tailings for the making of ferroalloys.
This process of reduction roasting-magnetic separation is also found
to be a major pre-treatment method in the dephosphorization of low-
grade ion ores such as oolitic ores. Although there has been a significant
volume of literature concerning the formation of magnetite or metallic
iron from the reduction of oolitic iron ores, an effort has been made in
this review to understand the up-gradation of oolitic iron ores by reduc-
tion roasting followed by magnetic separation only to produce pellet
feed concentrate within acceptable limits of phosphorus. It was evident
from the papers that it was possible to separate the gangue particles,
including phosphorous, thereby enriching the iron content of difficult-
to-treat oolitic iron ores by thermal treatment. Besides, in the present
article, some emphasis has been given to the reduction roasting pro-
cessing of high phosphorous ores from the Hubei Province in China,
805
which will help in handling the deposits with similar mineralogical
characteristics.
The application of microwave heating in reduction roasting is also an
attractive possibility as it offers faster kinetics and improved liberation
of the associated mineral phases. However, most of the studies made
so far involve the use of high purity carbonaceous reductants such as
graphite and charcoal, which are well-known microwave absorbers. It
may not offer a cost advantage over the conventional process when
treated in large-scale. Instead, a microwave-based reduction roasting
process using non-coking coals, which are available abundantly, must
be established to handle large tonnage of ores. Besides, the challenge
in microwave processing lies in the design of efficient applicators and
process control devices, which need to be studied thoroughly in line
with the interaction of the complex minerals with the microwave.
Several biomass residues and industrial wastes can be employed as
the reductants in this method as possible replacements of coal-based re-
ducing agents. Though biomass as a reducing agent can reduce the
greenhouse emissions generated from using coal as the reductant
source, its utilization in the reduction roasting technique is still
thought-provoking considering its limited availability. The review also
covers the pilot-scale investigation of the reduction roasting process
carried out in shaft furnace, rotary kiln, and fluidized bed reactor. Nev-
ertheless, the roasting method in shaft furnaces and rotary kiln may
not be industrially acceptable owing to the high energy consumption
and the problem of kiln coating, respectively. Hence, fluidized bed
roasting because of its high reaction efficiency and low energy con-
sumption as well as microwave-based reduction roasting due to its
faster reduction kinetics are potential application areas. The data com-
piled in this communication will be beneficial both for the researchers
working in a similar domain and the concerned industries looking for-
ward to utilizing their low-grade iron ores, slimes, tailings, and other
plant wastes.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Director, CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar,
for his permission to publish this paper and the Ministry of Steel, Gov-
ernment of India (F. No. 11(12)/GBS/2014-TW), for their financial
support.
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