TITLE:
Mineralogical Characterization of Heavy Mineral Concentrates from Senegalese Great Cost by Using Qemscan and SEM
AUTHORS:
Moumar Dieye, Marieke Van Lichtervelde, Abdoul Aziz Ndiaye, Mamadou Gueye, Simon B. Blancher
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Mineral Sand, Qemscan, SEM, Origin
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.11 No.12,
December
24,
2020
ABSTRACT: The heavy mineral sands of Senegal are exploited to
extract titanium oxides and zircon. Mining is carried out first by means of a
floating dredge and concentration plant which produces a heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) containing on
average 78% titanium oxides, 11% zircon and a set of silicate and alumino-silicate
minerals. This heavy mineral concentrate is then treated by gravity, magnetic
and electrostatic separation to produce titanium oxide concentrates (ilmenite,
leucoxene, rutile) and three varieties of zircon concentrates (Premium zircon,
standard zircon and medium grade zircon standard). In this study, we describe
the various mineral concentrates in terms of mineralogical assemblages, and
textural variability within grains, using Qemscan and Scanning Electron Microscopy.
The titanium oxide concentrates are differentiated by their TiO2 content and vary from ilmenite to rutile. The zircon concentrates are
characterized by the presence of impurities in the zircons, which consist in
numerous inclusions of titanium oxides and silicate minerals. The mineralogical
characteristics determined by scanning electron microscopy and by Qemscan
showed great variability within the grains themselves. Heavy minerals contain
many mineral inclusions and show strong chemical zoning.