The rational for associated mining of phosphorites and glauconites in the development of titanium-zircon placers at the Tsentral’noye deposit

In order to maximize the use of the Tsentral’noye placer deposit in the Tambov region, a study was made of technological samples from overburden rocks and concentration tailings of titanium and zirconium ores, in which dispersed useful phosphorite and glauconite minerals are present as an impurity. Samples weighing 300 kg were subjected to wet and dry screening, self-grinding, gravitational separation, and magnetic separation. The isolated phosphate and glauconite fractions and their concentrates were studied using polarizing and electron microscopy, X-ray, chemical, and quantitative spectral analyse. As a result, detailed data on the material and structural features of minerals, their relationships and enrichment characteristics were obtained. This, in turn, made it possible to outline possible directions for the additional use of the ores of the Tsentral’noye deposit in the form of phosphorite and glauconite concentrates obtained from them. For their agrochemical evaluation, vegetative experiments were carried out, which showed the high efficiency of the accumulated concentrates, which in agriculture in the form of mineral fertilizers of the ameliorant leads to an increase in the plant mass of grain crops by 25-26 %. Since the reserves of phosphates and glauconites are estimated at 17 and 6 million tons respectively, if the deposit is developed, additional reserves appear that can significantly reduce the cost of building a mining enterprise.