impact of dry and wet magnetic separator process parameters on iron oxide removal from egyptian feldspar ore

The demand for feldspar as a raw material in the ceramic industry is continuously increasing. feldspar is abundant in the earth's crust and typically found alongside other silicate minerals, as well as titanium and iron oxides. this study aims to reduce the iron oxide content in feldspar ore from the wadi zirib region and achieve an optimal grade of feldspar concentrate for various industrial uses. the research involved dry and wet magnetic separation techniques followed by leaching with oxalic and citric acids to minimize iron impurities and enhance optical properties. the factors affecting the dry magnetic separation, for feldspar size of –250+45 µm, were optimized using the box – behnken factorial design and a non-magnetic concentrate with 0.29 % fe2o3 and an 92.19 % feldspar yield was obtained. the wet magnetic separation for feldspar fines of size –45 µm was optimized and a concentrate with 0.27 % fe2o3 was achieved. the acid leaching was conducted on the non-magnetic feldspar concentrates using oxalic and citric acid. oxalic acid was more successful in reducing iron oxide of dry (to 0.19 %) and wet (to 0.12 %) non-magnetic feldspar concentrates. the optical properties of the leached concentrates were improved compared to the original sample, as the whiteness improved up to 90 %.