Sustainable and efficient barite recovery from low-grade tailings waste: A combined and innovative solution for resource utilization

Abstract

Barite-containing tailings represent a secondary barite resource characterized by substantial reserves and high recyclability. In this study, an innovative combined magnetic-gravity-flotation separation process was proposed for efficiently recovering barite from low-grade tailings waste. Low-intensity magnetic separation and high-gradient magnetic separation were sequentially employed to remove magnetic iron-bearing minerals. The non-magnetic fraction was subsequently subjected to shaking table separation to discard low-density gangue minerals, such as quartz. Through pre-enrichment via magnetic and gravity separation, the BaSO₄ grade increased from 7.92% to 74.43%, effectively upgrading the raw material quality. This pre-enrichment significantly reduced reagent consumption and operational costs in downstream flotation. Under optimized flotation conditions, a barite concentrate with 95.23% BaSO₄ purity was achieved, compliant with the first-class superior specifications outlined in China’s chemical industry standards for barite products. The mineral liberation analysis results indicated that the barite content in the concentrate reached 95.59%. The content of barite-poor intergrowth was less than 0.13%. This research provides a sustainable and efficient strategy for valorizing barite resources in industrial tailings.