Abstract:
limenite is ~ promising altern~te oourCc of rutile from whIch Ille end prodllCl TiO,
c~n be prodllced. Due 10 lapid decrease in supply of nalural TiO!, Ihe necessity of
alternale ';Oufces ofrutJlc c~nnol k l"crclllpilasized . .1\0~ le,lill In\'~sllgations Jrc
b~ing ctiLriedoul Ihroughout the '''!Hld on th,' llpgradalLOJI of low gradc ilrnetlite 10
["lLlileconsequently it is l1ec~,,,aIY to id~l1lify the best po,~ible route for the
upgradatlon af ilmenitc to whal i~ known i\S synlhellc rUlile.
RutJle, ilmcnitc and 1eucoxenc, an "llcmtlOn product of l1memtc arc the main
mineral ,ources ofl':laniulll and its oxide, Ilmenite may contain other min~:-als hke
hematite, magnetite ',tC LIIil.l structure Thc wcathering re,ulls show that 'he TiOl
content incrcases ",iih increasing ag~ So dctailcd analy,i, of weathcring elfect, on
ilmenite to a parli~ular placer ,kposil is essenlial not only for its q&alitativc
asses,ment 10 adopt better explOItation techniques but also for improving tht
tcchnique of production of ,y"thelic fUlIk. Ilmenite of this present ,ludy wa'
separJted li'(1[nMohcshkhali he","v mincral deposit at (he Bcach Sand ExploratlOn
Cenler, Cox's Bazar. Thi, ilmcnite sal11pl~ \Va.s rraction~tcd magnetically by
isodynamic magnetic s~p"ralor. Plcsctlce or dillcrem phascs III ~ach magnetic
fracta1l1 "crc itlvestig,ned by x-raJ' diffl'<ldollletry and wet ehcmical analy,is \Va,
carncd out 10delennine the cilcm ieaI con~enlratlon of phases prese~t 111the (hfTerenl
magnctic fractl(\n~. Optical microscopy ,,'as ahn applicd 10 these rr~clion~ 10 sllLdy
the morphology (Jfthe different pha,e, pre-,enL Pscudorutile, which gives indlcation
of alterdl1on, could not bc detected li'olll lhe above mentioned inve,tigallons. To
confirm the presence of bound WalCItl1ennogrdvimctric analysis was done. II a1-,o
did not ,how any ehangc of weighl near about 600"C for any fraction, which might
en,ure tbe presencc of combined watcr, if any, So this ,>tudyindlcatcs that alteration
does not exist in this partlculiJr hcavy mincral collected from Mobeshkhali,
