Recovery of Iron from Copper Tailings Using a Combined Direct Reduction–Magnetic Separation Process

IronIron in the form of fayaliteFayalite in copper tailingsCopper tailings poses a challengeChallenges for traditional beneficiation methods due to its fine particle size. In this work, ironIron present in copper tailingsCopper tailings was efficiently recovered by reducing fayaliteFayalite to metallic ironIron and subsequently separating it from gangue using the low-intensity magnetic separationMagnetic separation. Additionally, this approach prevents the agglomeration of the metallic ironIron during high-temperatureHigh temperature reduction. The effects of the reduction temperatureTemperature, reductant dosage, and flux dosage on iron recoveryIron recovery from copper tailingsCopper tailings were investigated using a combined processProcess of the direct reduction and magnetic separationMagnetic separation. The results confirm that it is feasibility of ironIron recover from copper tailingsCopper tailings through direct the combined processProcess. The optimal reduction conditions are CaO to copper slagCopper slag ratio of 7.5 wt% CaO, 30 wt% anthracite to copper slagCopper slag ratio, 1100–1200 °C, and a duration of 3 h. The optimal experimental magnetic field current is 0.5 A. The final product obtained has an ironIron grade of 78%.