Concentration of Rutile Using Thermally Heated Mixture of Low Grade Ilmenite Ores with Biomass from Maragwa Location in Tharaka Nithi County Kenya

Abstract

The mineral data from Kenya shows several deposits of low grade titanium yet the country has been importing titanium products. Some regions of Tharaka Nithi County contain titanium minerals. These deposits have never been earmarked for extraction because the common extraction methods known are expensive. Titanium minerals are known to occur mixed with iron minerals. The objective of this study was concentrating titanium from low grade ores using carbonized biomass. The samples were obtained from the selected deposits in Maragwa location in Tharaka Nithi County. The samples were obtained from 30 cm depth and labelled level A and further one-meter depth and labelled level B. The samples were then dried at 105°C for 9 hours and later ground to 60.0 meshes (250 microns) using a ball mill. Titanium in the ore was concentrated using carbonized biomass at 800-900°C. The analyses of the minerals for the mineralogical and chemical composition were done using X-ray Diffraction Spectroscopy (XRD), X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The mean composition of rutile was found to be 0.77±0.16% before concentration and 1.84±0.24 after concentration. The results show that rutile improved with a range of about 1.0 to 2.5% in all the depos