Beneficiation studies on low-grade tungsten ore of Chitral, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan

A bench-scale investigation was carried out for the beneficiation of tungsten ore of Chitral, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The ore initially containing 0.55% WO/sub 3/ was upgraded by applying a combination of physical beneficiation techniques i.e gravity concentration and magnetic separation. Diagonal Deck Concentration Table was used for gravity concentration studies. A series of tests was performed and the effect of various process variables such as feed rate, wash water flow rate, deck inclination angle and stroke length was studied. The experiments were conducted according to the traditional single-factor experimentation in order to get the real optimum conditions of processing. At optimum conditions, a tungsten concentrate having a grade of 30.85% WO/sub 3/ with 75.72% recovery was obtained. This concentrate was further upgraded by magnetic separation to 34.11 % WOJ with more than 75.72% recovery. (author)