Structural Characteristics and Processability of Sphalerite in Lead-Zinc Ore of the Gorevka Deposit

Abstract

The theoretical and experimental substantiation of the behavior of ferrous sphalerite in magnetic separation is given in terms of the Gorevka deposit ore. In sphalerite of this deposit, the content of isomorphous iron ranges as 4–9%. The Móssbauer spectroscopy showed the singlet and two doublet lines of iron, demonstrating separate arrays of iron atoms in sphalerite lattice, with formation of Fe-Fe pairs and clusters of three or more iron atoms. It is found that distribution of iron in sphalerite into three forms coincides for magnetic and nonmagnetic products of zinc concentrate separation. It is determined that magnetic separation undivides sphalerite grains by the isomorphous iron content but is governed by the genetic features of the deposit formation—association of sphalerite with magnetic minerals (pyrrhotine and siderite) and the absence of such associations in galena.