Process mineralogy of Dalucao rare earth ore and design of beneficiation process based on AMICS

The test results of the automated mineral identification and characterization system (AMICS), including the mineral composition, particle size distribution, dissemination state and degree of liberation of the target minerals, could be used to improve the beneficiation process. Taking the Dalucao rare earth ore located in Dechang, Sichuan Province, China (with an average content of 2.40 wt%) as the research object in this paper, the chemical composition, phase composition and dissemination state of the minerals were tested by AMICS, and the minerals of different fineness were ground. The concentrate yield, grade and recovery rate of the minerals of different fineness were compared through flotation tests. When the grinding lasted for 5 min and 82.60% of mineral grains passed through the − 74-μm sieve, the yield, grade and recovery rate could reach 20.19%, 8.75% and 73.64%, respectively (as the best grinding fineness), under the same flotation conditions.