Sedrick's mater's defense power piont.pptx

Master Thesis in Mining and Mineral Engineering. Research, based on the Nkout Iron Ore deposit in Cameroon.

1. DEPARTMENT OF MINING AND MINERAL ENGINEERING NATIONAL HIGHER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA M.ENG DEFENSE Geometallurgical Evaluation of The Nkout Iron Ore Deposit, South Region of Cameroon. TOPIC Presented by NKERTNGUFEH SEDRICK ABENGHO Academic Supervisor : Ateh Kevin, PhD (Lecturer) 1 Field Supervisor : C hombong Nelson, PhD (Exploration Geologist, CAMINA S.A)

2. 2 OUTLINE Introduction Problem Statement and Rational Research Questions Research Objectives Methods Results and Discussions Conclusions and Recommendations

3. 3 INTRODUCTION Iron ore export by country ( DISERA, 2022 ) Iron ore Consumption by country (DISERA, 2022) Geometallurgy and Geochemical Evaluation

4. 4 LOCALITY Amount of ore /MT/BT Ore Grade(%Fe) Operator Nkout 3 BT including 25MT DSO 30-60 CAMINEX SARL Lobe 661MT 35 SINOSTEEL Mbalam 775MT DSO ~60 SUNDANCE RESOURCES Iron Potential of Cameroon ( Business Cameroon, 2022 ) Ranked 5 th in the world in terms of iron potential, Cameroon has about 4.4 billion tonnes of iron ore reserves and with about 22 deposits that are still to be evaluated.

5. Recovery of iron from different deposits varies with grind size. When the best grind size is unknown, recovery is low and metal loss is high. Sulphur and phosphorus contamination. Cameroon is not equipped to handle geometallurgical testing. Thus, samples are always sent abroad for DTR test during every geometallurgical evaluation . PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RATIONAL 5

6. 6 Which grind size will give the maximum concentrate recovery for the Nkout iron ore deposit? What are the elements found in the ore including contaminants and their concentration? How do we determine the correction factor for determining DTR results? RESEARCH QUESTIONS

7. OBJECTIVES A) Main Objective The main objective of this project was to conduct a geometallurgical evaluation of the Nkout iron ore deposit 7

8. 8 B) Specific Objectives To determine the best grind size for maximum iron concentrate recovery from the Nkout iron ore deposit. To determine the elemental composition of the ore. To determine a factor of correction for determining DTR results.

9. 9 METHODS Field Methods Sample preparation Weighing Drying Crushing DTR Test XRF on Iron Concentrate Results Sample collection Fresh magnetite sample Sample shipment to MMEC lab, Douala Laboratory Methods Local magnetic separation Sieving Pulverisation Packaging

10. 10 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS A) Field Results Sample Location Map Sample Collected at site Banded Magnetic Low degree of weathering Fine and coarse grains

11. 11 B) Laboratory Results 1) Result of the Local Magnetic Separation test Recovery increases with decreasing grind size .

12. 12 2) Result of the DTR test Recovery increases with decreasing grind size. DTR concentrate recovery is more than 2 times lower than that of the local magnetic separation concentrate recovery.

13. 13 Sample ID Mass of concentrate/g % Fe Distribution Fe % SiO2 Al2O3 P S NKC01 -1mm 27.34 75 62.35 1.89 1.12 0.1 0.1 NKC01 -75um 38.00 54 88.2 2.15 0.48 0.01 0.01 Sulphur and Phosphorus tolerance limits in the blast furnace are S <0.1 % and P<0.12 % P respectively. 3. Result of the XRF test

14. 14 Grind size Mass of DTR concentrate/grams Mass of concentrate of Local magnetic separation/grams -1mm 27.34 65.98 -75um 38.00 98.21 4) The Factor of correction Data used to derive the correction factor The correction factor is y = 5.52 + (0.33) x Where : y is the mass of DTR concentrate, x is the concentrate mass of the local magnetic separation

15. 15 A) Conclusions The best grind size for optimum recovery of iron from the Nkout iron ore deposit is - 75um. The composition of the magnetite ore (Fe3O4) include Iron (Fe), silica (SiO2), Alumina (Al2O3), Phosphorus (P), and Sulphur (S). P and S concentrations of the ore are low in grind size -75um, but with high S content in grind size -1mm. Thus, mining of the deposit will generally not require pre-sulphur and phosphorus treatment if grind size -75um is used during ore processing.   . CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDTIONS

16. 16 3. The factor of correction for determining DTR results is the equation Y= 5.52 + ( 0.33)x In all, the Nkout iron ore is massive magnetite deposit with an average ore grade of 35.64 % Fe, having low levels of sulphur and phosphorus impurities. Magnetic separation can be used during its processing, and recovery can be improved by crushing to finer grind sizes, say - 75um.

17. 17 B) Recommendations We recommend that further research should be carried out on grind sizes less than -75um in order to observe if concentrate recovery could still increase. Given that Cameroon is endowed with lots of iron deposits, we recommend that the government should at least set up a mineral lab in the country.

18. 18 THANKS FOR YOUR KEEN ATTENTION