Determination of Bond index of Birnin- Gwari Iron Ore in Nigeria

Bond index is useful in designing of grinding system in mineral processing. In this study, the Bond work index of Birnin- Gwari iron ore in northern Nigeria is determined using modified Bond’s method using ‘reference ore’. Samples of iron ore were sourced using random method, reference minerals; marble and granite of known weight and iron ore of known weight were ground using the laboratory ball mill grinding machine. 80% passing size for the iron ore marble and granite samples were obtained at 100μm sieve size for the feeds and products. The work index of reference minerals; marble and granite were used to calculate the work index of iron ore. The value of 28.66 Kwh/short ton and 24.92 Kwh/short ton were obtained. The value of 20.39 Kwh/short ton was selected as it is within the range indicated by previous research work on iron ore in Nigeria.