One-Step Calcification–Biomaterialization Transformation Process for Treating High-Iron Bauxite Ore

Abstract

Regarding the problems of low aluminum–iron separation efficiency and serious pollution of red mud emission in the traditional treatment process of high iron bauxite, this study adopts an innovative one-step calcification–biomassification transformation means to treat high-iron bauxite, which synchronously realizes the dissolution of high-iron bauxite, the transformation of calcification, and the magnetic transformation of the iron phase. At the optimal reduction conditions with an experimental temperature of 280 °C, a Na₂O concentration of 250 g/L, a Ca/Si of 1.5, an L/S of 4, and a biomass ratio of 1:4, the dissolution rate of Al₂O₃ in the transformed slag reached 89.7%. All of the Fe₂O₃ was reduced to Fe₃O₄. In addition, the red mud, ω(Na₂O), produced by treating bauxite ore by this method was reduced to 0.38 wt%, which can be used in the fields of construction and environmental protection to make cement, adsorbents, and other materials. This study provides a theoretical foundation and technological framework for the eco-friendly low-carbon processing of high-iron bauxite, while advancing the development of a circular economy model characterized by “waste-to-resource utilization in mineral processing”.