Removal of Impurities from Shungite Via a Combination of Physical and Chemical Treatments

This study investigated the removal of sulfur and iron from shungite rocks through different methods after fine grinding: flotation, magnetic separation, microwave treatment, chemical leaching. In this work, first, a mineralogical was conducted. The carbon, silica, iron, compositions in as-received were 45.4%, 38.3%, 4.6%, 2.4%, respectively. grade 1.4% obtained. wet high-gradient separation at flux density 1 tesla, grades nonmagnetic fraction 2.8% 1.9%, Furthermore, reduced to 0.2% by 9 min irradiation. addition, leaching using chelating reagents inorganic acids utilized remove sulfur. Nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) could reduce 2.0% 0.9%, For reverse aqua regia, 0.9% 0.23%, 6N HCl with H2O2 aqueous solution, 0.8% 0.34%, Overall, most effective for shungite.