Investigation of dewatering of chromite tailings with lignin

Every year, a large amount of chrome ore is produced in our country. Dewatering of tailings generated during the beneficiation of these ores is one of the problems faced by the mineral processing industry. In this study, flocculation performance was investigated by using lignin in the dewatering of tailings obtained from chrome ore beneficiation. The sample used in the study was obtained from Burdur Yesilova chrome ore beneficiation plant tailings dam. The effects of flocculant dosage, stirring speed, pulp density and suspension pH value on turbidity were investigated. Experimental results using lignin showed that the optimum turbidity value was 24.4 NTU. Flocculation experiments showed that the optimal flocculation conditions were as follows: flocculant dosage of 50 g/t, stirring speed of 250 rpm, pulp density of 15% and pH 9.2. This study is important in terms of being carried out using tailings from actively operating chrome ore beneficiation plant and determining the flocculation properties of the tailings. By carrying out this study, it has been shown that dewatering these tailings can be done in an effective and environmentally friendly way in order to combat water scarcity and supply clean water for reuse in the plant.