98  Mineral Processing Technology (MPT 2007)

Effect of Mıneralogy in Beneficiation of Xenotine

Pre-concentrates of Siri River, Chhattısgarh and
Deo River, Jharkhand
K. Raja Gopal**, P.K. Gupta*, Tej Pal Singh** and G.V.S.U. Rao***
*Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration & **Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration &
Research, Department of Atomic Energy, Research, Department of Atomic Energy,
Nagpur New Delhi
***Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration & Research,
Department of Atomic Energy,
Hyderabad

ABSTRACT: Alluvial placers along Siri River in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh and Deo River in Gumla
district of Jharkhand are characterized by heavy minerals containing considerable amounts of yttrium mineral
xenotime. The heavy minerals content varies from 1 to 2% weight in Siri river placers and 1.5 to 2.5% weight
in Deo river placers. After physical beneficiation by gravity methods, both the samples yielded
preconcentrates containing 3% to 5% wt. xenotime analysing 2.5% to 3% Y 2O3. The other heavy minerals
present in the preconcentrates are magnetite, ilmenite, monazite, garnet, apatite and others like amphibole,
rutile etc. Yttrium is mainly contributed by xenotime and monazite. Further these preconcentrates are
beneficiated by magnetic separation route to enrich yttrium content. It was observed that higher Y 2O3
recoveries are obtained in Siri river concentrates (60%) compared to Deo river concentrates (40%).
Petromineralogical characteristics of the pre-concentrates indicated that the nature of xenotime varies in these
concentrates. The xenotime mineral from Siri river is less coated and less fractured compared to xenotime
from Deo river. Moreover the xenotime mineral from Deo river has more fracture fillings with hydrous iron
oxide (goethite) and inclusions of dusty iron oxides. Since the goethite and other hydrous iron oxides are
comparatively less magnetic, the presence of these fracture fillings in the xenotime makes it less magnetic.
Magnetic induction required to separate discrete xenotime is 11–16 K.Gauss whereas goethite needs 15–18
K.Gauss. Since cross belt magnetic separator can produce maximumfield strength of 12K.Gauss, xenotime
grains which have more fracture fillings with goethite etc will report to non-magnetic fraction. To overcome
this effect a high strength magnetic separator has to be used for concentration or the xenotime mineral grains
are to be freed from these hydrous iron fillings and coatings.

1. INTRODUCTION The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration

The rapid advances in the high technology
spheres of electronics and super conductivity have
resulted in an increase in the demand for yttrium
and associated Heavy Rare Earth Elements
(HREE)5. In India large resources of light rare-
earth elements (LREE) are known in the monazite
of beach and inland placers but it has limited
resource base in respect of HREE3. The Indian
Rare Earth Limited- the only producer of REE in
India-process monazite which has very low
HREE content (2.0%). It is therefore necessary to
explore and exploit such occurrences which can
yield mineral concentrates consisting of higher
HREE contents than monazite of beach sands.
and Research has consequently intensified its
surveys for HREE and Y minerals especially
xenotime which led to the discovery of several
occurrences. Some of the important discoveries
include alluvial placers along Siri River in
Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh and Deo River in
Gumla district of Jharkhand which are
characterized by heavy minerals containing
considerable amounts of yttrium mineral
xenotime. AMD has operated mobile gravity
based plant along both river banks for producing a
preconcentrate5. At Kunkuri in Jashpur dist., an
upgradation plant was set up to upgrade the the
xenotime mineral in preconcentrates by magnetic
separation. The paper discusses the salient
99  Mineral Processing Technology (MPT 2007)
features of the placer deposits, physical bene- Physical beneficiation plants using gravity
ficiation technique applied, difference in behavior concentration techniques have been operated at
of xenotime minerals of Siri river and Deo river both the places to treat the raw river sands and to
under magnetic separation and the reasons for that obtain xenotime concentrate. The flow sheet
behaviour. consists of raw sand – Trommeling 10# – -10# -
shaking table – preconcentrate – sun dry – low
2. FEED (PLACER) intensity magnetic separator coupled with disc
CHARECTRERESTICS magnetic separator (3 K.Gauss) (magnetite and
Ilmenite) – Non-mags – Crossbelt Magnetic
The river sand of both the rivers contains heavy separator (8 and 15 amps) (max 12 K.Gauss) –
minerals viz., magnetite, ilmenite, monazite, mags- Disc Magnetic separator-Non Mags –
xenotime, garnet, apatite, amphibole and rutile xenotime concentrate (>18% Y2O3). The heavy
etc. Their weight % range is given in Table –1 5. minerals content of the xenotime preconcentrates
The total heavies in Siri river and Deo river sands are shown in Table 25&3&4.
is 1–2% and 1.5–2.5% respectively5&3. In both preconcentrates, Xenotime, Monazite
and Ilmenite contents which form 80 to 90%
Table 1: Heavy mineral content of the raw sand weight of the preconcentrates and are present in
Sl. Minerals Weight % range almost same percentages. It was also observed
No in Raw sand that in preconcentrate Y2O3, ThO2 and U3O8 are
. components of both monazite and xenotime. The
1. Magnetite 0.01–0.50 contribution by these minerals are shown in Table
2. Ilmenite 0.08–1.00
31. Only 64% of the feed Y2O3 values is present in
the form of xenotime. Hence even if entire
3. Monazite 0.60–0.80
xenotime is recovered as a mineral concentrate,
4. Xenotime 0.06–0.08 the recovery of feed Y2O3 will be only 64% of the
5. Garnet 0.01–0.02 feed value5.
6. Apatite 0.03–0.04
7. Amphibole, Rutile others 0.01–0.02 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
8. Total heavies 1.50 – 2.00
Physical beneficiation by gravity concentration
Table 2: Heavy minerals content (in %) of the
route have yielded similar pre concentrates and
preconcentrates recoveries in both Siri and Deo river samples. But
during the upgradation of preconcentrates for
Sl. Minerals Siri river Deo river xenotime concentration by magnetic separation
No. pre- pre-
concentrate concentrate route, it was observed that comparatively higher
1. Magnetite 1–5 0.4–2
recoveries are obtained in Siri river concentrates
2. Ilmenite 40–45 40–45
than in Deo river concentrates. The beneficiation
3. Monazite 35–40 45–48
data of an experiment is shown in Table 4.
4. Xenotime 3–5 3–5 During magnetic separation the magnetic
5. zircon – 0.2 – 0.7 separators used were Low Intensity Disc
6. Garnet 1–2 0.1 –0.5 Magnetic separator and High Iintensity Cross belt
7. Apatite 3–4 – Magnetic separator (MK IV Model ) supplied by
8. Amphibole, 1–2 2.5 – 3.5 Readings of Lismore Pty Ltd., Australia. From
Rutile others table it is clear that higher Y2O3 recoveries are
9. Total heavies 1.00–2.00 1.5 – 2.5 obtained in Siri river concentrates (60%)
compared to Deo river concentrates (40%).
3. PHYSICAL BENEFICIATION
Table 3: Relative contribution of monazite and xenotime to the feed Y2O3, ThO2 and U3O8 contents.
Effect of Mineralogy in Beneficiation of Xenotine Pre-concentrates… 100
Sl. Y2O3 ThO2 U3O8
Mineral %weight
No. % % Dist. % % Dist. % % Dist.
1. Monazite 90.0 2.5 36.3 12.68 98.6 0.379 79.6
2. Xenotime 10.0 39.4 63.7 1.65 1.40 0.873 20.4
3. Total 100.0 6.2 100.0 11.60 100.0 0.43 100.0

Table 4: Y2O3 Distribution in different beneficiated products of upgradation of Siri and Deo river
Siri river preconcentrate products Deo river preconcentrate products
Sl. Minerals
No. concentrates %Wt %Y2O3 % Y2O3 %Wt %Y2O3 % Y2O3
assay Dist. assay Dist.
1 Magnetite 2.26 0.127 0.10 2.21 0.25 0.21
2 Ilmenite 42.31 0.126 1.89 38.31 0.22 3.38
3 Xenotime rich (>18% Y2O3) 4.25 19.540 29.44 2.68 24.38 26.14
4 Xenotime Inter. (9-18% Y2O3) 6.80 12.401 29.87 3.48 10.00 13.91
5 Monazite rich (<9% Y2O3) 44.38 2.460 38.70 53.32 2.64 56.36

It also indicates that the behaviour of xenotime 4.1 Petro-mineralogical Studies

mineral grains under magnetic separation is
different in the two samples even though matrix During petromineralogical study it was observed
of the minerals is almost similar. These variations that the nature of the xenotime varies in different
in Y2O3 recoveries led to study the petro- concentrates. Comparative study of xenotime of
mineralogical characteristics of the preconcen- Siri and Deo river is shown in Table 51. The
Photographs of the preconcentrtes are shown in
trates especially the xenotime minerals.
Fig. 21.
Fig. 2: Photographs of Siri river and Deo river preconcentrates
Siri River Preconcentrates

X X
Yellow transparent, colourless, reddish brown & less fractured. Goethite content - less, coating of
iron oxides-less. Transmitted Light, Crossed Nicols, Air, 54X (X- xenotime )
     Deo River Preconcentrates
       

X X X

X
Transmitted Light, Crossed Nicols, Air, 80X    Transmitted Light, Crossed Nicols, Air, 54X
Reddish brown, yellow transparent, colourless, more fractured. Goethitic content-high. Coating of
iron oxides—high (X-xenotime )
101  Mineral Processing Technology (MPT 2007)
The xenotime mineral of the Siri river is less grains, which have more fracture fillings with
coated (with hydrous iron oxide) and less goethite etc will report in non magnetic fraction.
fractured compared to Deo river xenotime. More
over, the Deo river xenotime mineral has more Table 6: Magnetic induction in Gauss required
fracture fillings with hydrous iron oxide to extract discrete minerals
(Goethite) and inclusions of dusty iron oxides1.
Sl. No. Minerals Range in Gauss
Since the goethite and other hydrous iron oxides
are comparatively less magnetic, the presence of 1. Xenotime 11000 –16000
these fracture fillings in the xenotime makes the 2. Limonite 16000 –20000
xenotime mineral less magnetic. Magnetic 3. Goethite 15000 –18000
induction required to extract discrete minerals of
4. Ilmenite 8000 –16000
xenotime requires 11-16 K.Gauss where as
goethite requires 15-18 K.Gauss (Table 6) 2 . 5. Hematite 13000 –18000
(Cross belt separators can produce maximum of 6. Magnetite 0 –1000
10,000 to 12,000 gauss)6. Hence the xenotime
7. Monazite 14000 –20000
8. Garnet 12000 –19000

Table 5: Comparative study of xenotime of Siri and Deo river

Siri river xenotime mineral
1. Mostly yellowish brown in colour followed
by reddish brown color, yellow transparent
and colorless.
2. Grains are mostly of bi-pyramidal in shape
and crystal faces are well developed.
3. Comparatively less coated (with iron oxide).
4. Grains are less fractured.
5. The fracture fillings or inclusions with
hydrous iron oxide (Goethite) and dusty
iron oxides are comparatively less.
Deo river xenotime mineral
1. Mostly reddish brown in colour followed by
yellow transparent and rarely colorless.
2. Prismatic crystals dominates. Bi pyramidal
crystals are comparatively less abundant.
3. Comparatively more coated (with iron oxide).
4. Grains are more fractured.
5. The fracture fillings or inclusions with hydrous
iron oxide (Goethite)and dusty iron oxides are
comparatively more and prominent..

5. CONCLUSION 6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

From petromineralogical point of view the
xenotime grains of Deo river differs with those
of Siri river mostly by their fracture fillings with
hydrous iron oxide (Goethite) and inclusions of
dusty iron oxides. Since the goethite and other
hydrous iron oxides are comparatively less
magnetic, the presence of these fracture fillings
makes the Deo river xenotime mineral less
magnetic comparatively and gets it reported in
nonmagnetic fraction. To overcome this effect
either high power magnetic separator which can
produce more than 12 Kilo Gauss has to be used
for concentration of the xenotime mineral grains
or the grains are to be freed from these hydrous
iron oxides fillings and coatings.
The authors are highly indebted to Dr. Anjan
Chaki, Director, Atomic Minerals Directorate for
Exploration and Research, for permission to
present this paper. Authors sincere thanks to Dr.
M.K.Roy, Regional Director, Central Region,
AMD for his valuable suggestions and support in
writing the paper. Authors are also thankful to
Dr. K.S. Mishra, Incharge, Rare metal and Rare
earth Investigations, Central Region, AMD for
providing valuable literature. Authors are also
thankful to the colleagues of Petrology
laboratory of central region for their valuable
investigation reports.
Effect of Mineralogy in Beneficiation of Xenotine Pre-concentrates…
REFERENCES
[1] Departmental unpblished petrological report on
the Studies of the heavy mineral samples and
xenotime grains of Siri River and Deo River
(unpublished).
[2] Paramagnetic Minerals, Table 1 Magnetic
induction in Gauss required to Extract Discreate
Minerals. The Chemical Engineer, November
1982. p. 425.
[3] Rai, S.D., Shivananda, S.R., Tiwary, K.N.,
Banerjee, D.C., and RaviKaul., Xenotime
bearing inland placers in India and their
beneficiation Exploration and Research for
Atomic Minerals Vol.. 4, 77-92 (October 1991).
[4] Sanjay, Bagora, Mishra, K.S., Singh, A.K.,
Ramesh, Babu P.V., Xenotime placer as
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[5] Shivananda, S.R., Viswamohan, K. and
Muralikrishna, N., Recovery of xenotime and
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[6] Svoboda, J., Magnetic Methods for the
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