Studies on Processability of Iranian Bauxite Resources to Produce Alumina in Jajarm Alumina Beneficiation Plant

Jajarm bauxite mine as a largest known bauxite ore reserves with more than twenty million tons of diasporic bauxite, located in the north of Khorasan province, Iran. This bauxite mine cannot provide the suitable feed for at least twenty tears. Therefore, the possibility of using other bauxite deposits such as Shah-Bolaghi bauxite mine in Tehran province and Sorkh-cheshmeh mine in the north of Khorasan province was investigated. These studies were carried out based on the dissolution and sedimentation velocity of red mud. The results show that using these deposits separately is not applicable, because of low dissolution and/or low sedimentation velocity of red mud. The other parameters such as dissolution temperature, the amount of lime and Na2Oc must be carefully controlled to have the better results. Accordingly, a mixture of 50-50 Jajarm and Shah-Bolaghi bauxite ore has had the better performance with higher dissolution efficiency and also the lesser alumina amount in red mud.