Mining Solutions
Iron Applications
Alcotac® organic binders for the iron ore industry. In iron ore pelletization a significant portion of bentonite can be replaced by adding Alcotac® FE or CS grades at a very low dosage thus significantly reducing the level of unwanted impurities.
As higher quality ore deposits are depleted, the beneficiation of low-grade ores gains importance. The ores are finely ground to remove unwanted contaminants thus concentrating the iron oxide. The concentrate fines are then agglomerated back into larger particles to enable further processing in blast furnaces.
The most common agglomeration technology in the iron ore industry is pelletization with bentonite being the most often used binder.
The addition of very small amounts of Alcotac® CS allows to reduce the dosage of bentonite by about 50% or more - without compromising on pellet quality. Depending on the quality of the bentonite and ore, sulfur dioxide emissions in the induration process can be reduced by up to 30%.