1. A wet beneficiation process, characterized in that: the wet beneficiation process is used for concentrating attapulgite ore.
2. The production process according to claim 1, characterized in that: an attapulgite ore mixture containing impurities such as soil is crushed and then fed into a hydrolysis tank; after soaking for 24 hours, it is agitated with a high‑pressure air pump, and passed through a cylindrical screen made of stainless steel wire to remove impurities larger than 1 mm; it is then sent to a sloped settling tank, where it is continuously agitated with a high‑pressure air pump; after 12 hours, because attapulgite ore has a relatively low specific gravity, it is located in the uppermost layer of the entire sediment; this portion of attapulgite ore is pumped out by a mud pump and sent to a flat‑bottomed settling tank; after 15 hours, the excess water is drained, and after 2‑3 days of natural drying, this portion of attapulgite ore is taken out as a semi‑finished product, thereby achieving the purpose of concentrating attapulgite ore.

Processo de beneficiamento úmido da atapulgita

(I) Technical Field:

The present invention relates to a wet beneficiation process, in particular to an attapulgite wet beneficiation process.

(II) Background Art:

Attapulgite ore deposits are not abundant in China, mainly distributed in Xuyi County and Liuhe County of Jiangsu Province, and Mingguang City of Anhui Province. Due to insufficient understanding of the properties and value of attapulgite ore in the early stage, mining was rather disorderly, resulting in the admixture of soil and other impurities into the attapulgite ore, greatly reducing the overall content of the attapulgite ore, and some attapulgite ores have even lost their mining value. In response to this situation, relevant authorities have begun to adopt some remedial measures to control haphazard mining. However, how to make full use of the large amount of artificially created waste ore and redevelop low‑grade ore sources has become a major problem. Relevant units have invested substantial funds and manpower, but the results have not been significant.

(III) Summary of the Invention:

The present invention utilizes the physical properties of attapulgite ore and adopts a wet beneficiation process to solve this problem, effectively improving the utilization rate of attapulgite ore and the attapulgite content of the ore. Because the physical processing properties are particularly good, it can be further processed into high‑grade products.

The process of the present invention involves crushing the attapulgite ore mixture containing impurities such as soil, and feeding it into a hydrolysis tank. After soaking for 24 hours, it is agitated with a high‑pressure air pump, and passed through a cylindrical screen made of stainless steel wire to remove impurities larger than 1 mm. It is then sent to a sloped settling tank, where it is again agitated with a high‑pressure air pump. After 12 hours, because attapulgite ore has a relatively low specific gravity, it is located in the uppermost layer of the entire sediment. This portion of attapulgite ore is pumped out by a mud pump and sent to a flat‑bottomed settling tank. After 15 hours, the excess water is drained, and after 2‑3 days of natural drying, this portion of attapulgite ore is taken out as a semi‑finished product, thereby achieving the purpose of concentrating attapulgite ore, with good economic and social benefits.

(IV) Detailed Description of the Embodiments:

The specific technical implementation method adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problem is as follows:

1. Preliminary beneficiation of attapulgite ore

Select a flat drying yard in the mining area, transport the attapulgite ore to be processed to the yard, and spread it evenly to a thickness of less than 8 cm. After 1‑3 days of drying, the attapulgite ore begins to crack and slightly naturally disintegrate. At this point, it can be turned over for further drying, and some soil impurities that can be manually picked out are removed, thereby reducing the workload of the subsequent steps.

2. Crushing and hydrolysis

The preliminarily screened and dried attapulgite ore is transported to the production plant for crushing, with the fineness controlled to less than 3 mm, and then fed into a hydrolysis tank (the size of the hydrolysis tank can be determined according to the conditions of the production unit). The water level in the hydrolysis tank must be higher than the attapulgite ore. After soaking for 24 hours, it is agitated with a high‑pressure air pump. At the same time, the hydrolyzed attapulgite slurry is passed through a cylindrical screen made of stainless steel wire to remove impurities larger than 1 mm, and then sent to a sloped settling tank.

3. Settling

After the screened attapulgite slurry enters the sloped settling tank, it is continuously agitated with a high‑pressure air pump. After 12 hours, because attapulgite ore has a relatively low specific gravity, it is distributed in the uppermost layer of the entire sediment. This portion of attapulgite slurry is pumped out by a mud pump and sent to a flat‑bottomed settling tank (the size of the flat‑bottomed settling tank can be determined according to the conditions of the production unit). After 15 hours, the excess water is drained, and after 2‑3 days of natural drying, this portion of attapulgite ore is taken out as a semi‑finished product.

The present invention can effectively improve the utilization rate of attapulgite ore and the attapulgite content of the ore. Because attapulgite ore has a high disintegration rate in water, the attapulgite ore obtained by wet beneficiation, after drying, has particularly good physical processing properties and can be further processed into high‑grade products. It has good economic and social benefits.