Boron-bearing magnetite concentrate is typically characterized by low grade of iron and boron (wTFc = 51 %— 54 %, wB2O3 = 6 % — 8%), as well as the close intergrowth of ascharite phase and magnetite phase. A promising technology was proposed to separate iron and boron by coupling the direct reduction of iron oxides and Na activation of boron minerals together. The influence of Na2CO3 as additive on the direct reduction of boron-bearing magnetite was studied by chemical analysis, kinetic analysis, XRD analysis and SEM analysis. The results showed that the addition of Na2CO3 not only activated boron minerals, but also reduced the activation energy of the reaction and promoted the reduction of iron oxides. Besides, the addition of Na2CO3 changed the composition and melting point of non-ferrous phase, and then promoted the growth and aggregation of iron grains, which was conducive to the subsequent magnetic separation. Thus, the coupling of the two processes is advantageous.

The water leaching process of vanadium, sodium, and silicon from molten vanadium-titanium-bearing (V-Ti-bearing) slag obtained from low-grade vanadium-bearing titanomagnetite was investigated systematically. The results show that calcium titanate, sodium aluminosilicate, sodium oxide, silicon dioxide and sodium vanadate are the major components of the molten V-Ti-bearing slag. The experimental results indicate that the liquid-solid (L/S) mass ratio significantly affects the leaching process because of the respective solubilities and diffusion rates of the components. A total of 83.8% of vanadium, 72.8% of sodium, and 16.1% of silicon can be leached out via a triple counter-current leaching process under the optimal conditions of a particle size below 0.074 mm, a temperature of 90°C, a leaching time of 20 min, an L/S mass ratio of 4:1, and a stirring speed of 300 r/min. The kinetics of vanadium leaching is well described by an internal diffusion-controlled model and the apparent activation energy is 11.1 kJ/mol. The leaching mechanism of vanadium was also analyzed.