Estimating the magnetite content of the Southern part of Eppawala Phosphate Deposit and its parent rock
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Date
2015
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Phosphorus is one of most important plant nutrients because its function cannot be performed by
any other nutrient. Phosphate fertilizer is mainly produced from the natural phosphate rocks
worldwide. Phosphate deposit at Eppawala is one of the most economically valuable mineral
deposits in Sri Lanka. It contains up to 42% of P2O5 while the citric acid solubility of various
components varies from 4% to 6%. Due to strong weathering of apatite-bearing parent carbonatite
rock, an economically valuable secondary phosphate deposit has formed (Subasinghe, 2013).
Former studies revealed that iron leaching from weathering parent rock played an important role
in fixing phosphate and formation of secondary deposit through in-situ diagenesis (Subasinghe,
2012). Source of iron is assumed to be magnetite and other iron bearing minerals. To reap grater
benefits from the deposit it is necessary to produce value added products such as triple super
phosphates. Due to considerable amount of iron impurities from magnetite and other iron baring
minerals, the production of super phosphate may pose some difficulties at industrial level. The
objective of this study is to develop a methodology to estimate the magnetite, the main iron-
bearing mineral, in the phosphate ore.
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Keywords
Mineral Sciences, Materials Sciences, Soil Science, Chemistry, Mineral