I. Overview

Today we will learn about brucite. Brucite is an important non-metallic mineral, belonging to the hydroxide ore. Its main component is magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2), which is one of the minerals with a high magnesium content in nature.

II. Morphology and Characteristics

Brucite is usually a flake or fibrous aggregate, mostly white or light green, colorless and transparent, with glass luster and pearl luster. Its hardness is about 2.5-3, and its relative density is in the range of 2.369-2.39. The chemical properties of brucite are stable, it is easily soluble in hydrochloric acid, it can release water vapor when heated, and it can be converted into other forms of magnesium compounds under certain conditions.

III. World Distribution

The distribution of brucite in the world is not uniform, mainly concentrated in the following countries and regions:

China: China is one of the countries with the richest brucite resources in the world, especially in Fengcheng, Liaoning, Ningqiang, Shaanxi, Ji'an, Jilin, Qilian Mountains, Qinghai, Shimian, Sichuan, Xixia, Henan, and Kuandian, Liaoning. Among them, Liaoning Fengcheng has the highest reserves, reaching 10 million tons, Shaanxi Ningqiang area has proven brucite reserves of 7.8 million tons, and Jilin Ji'an has proven brucite reserves of 2 million tons.

Russia: Russia is also a country with abundant brucite resources, especially in the Kulidur area in the south of Xiaoxing'anling, where there are large-scale brucite deposits.

Canada: Canada's brucite resources are mainly distributed in Ontario, Quebec and other places.

The United States: The brucite resources in the United States are mainly distributed in Nevada, Texas and other places.

North Korea: North Korea's brucite resources are mainly distributed in the Bokionton area.

Norway: Norway's brucite resources are also distributed to a certain extent.

IV. Market Application

Brucite has a wide range of applications in many fields due to its unique physical and chemical properties, especially in refractory materials, environmental protection, chemical industry and other fields, showing great potential.

In the field of refractory materials, brucite is widely used in the production of refractory materials such as refractory bricks, refractory coatings and lining materials due to its high magnesium content and good refractoriness. Especially in the steel industry, heavy-burned magnesia (brucite) made of brucite is widely used due to its high density (>3.55 g/cm³) and high refractoriness (>2800°C).

In the field of environmental protection, brucite can be used for wastewater treatment, especially for the removal of heavy metal ions such as nickel, copper, cadmium, manganese and chromium. In addition, it can also be used as a neutralizing agent for acidic wastewater, and there is a great demand for treating soil contaminated by acid rain and adjusting soil pH. Brucite can also be used as a flue gas desulfurization agent to reduce the harm of high mercury and high sulfur fuels to the environment.

In the field of chemical products, brucite can be used as filler and coating for chemical products, especially in the papermaking industry, brucite can be used as filler to improve the whiteness and quality of paper. In addition, brucite also has important applications in the preparation of magnesium chloride, magnesium oxide, etc.

In the field of flame retardant materials, brucite is used as a flame retardant in the plastics industry due to its halogen-free, non-toxic and highly efficient flame retardant properties. It can effectively absorb heat, reduce the temperature of the combustion system, and slow down the burning rate of the material. The flame retardant mechanism of brucite is that it decomposes and releases crystal water at high temperature, absorbs heat, and reduces the concentration of combustible gas, thereby playing a flame retardant role.

In other fields, brucite is also widely used.Brucite is also used to prepare various composite materials, such as composite materials combined with silicon, phosphorus, nitrogen and other elements to improve their performance. In agriculture, brucite can be used to treat beet juice as a decolorizer. In addition, brucite can also be used as a catalyst carrier and catalyst to play a role in chemical reactions.

V. Purity and Quality Determination of Brucite

As an important industrial mineral, its purity and quality are directly related to the performance and quality of the final product. High-purity brucite can not only improve the performance and quality of the product, but also reduce production costs and improve the market competitiveness of enterprises. Therefore, ensuring the purity and quality of brucite is an important prerequisite for the development of the industry. Generally, brucite can be divided into three grades according to the content of magnesium oxide, as shown in the figure below:

VI. Sorting Method

The sorting technology of brucite has experienced a development process from traditional hand sorting to mechanical sorting, and then to modern photoelectric sorting and artificial intelligence sorting. In the early days, due to the similar physical and chemical properties of brucite and associated minerals, traditional physical methods were difficult to achieve effective separation. Subsequently, the development of photoelectric mineral processing technology provided new possibilities for the sorting of brucite. By identifying the surface features of the ore such as color and texture, automatic sorting can be achieved to a certain extent. In recent years, with the development of artificial intelligence technology, intelligent sorting equipment can achieve more accurate sorting by learning and identifying the characteristics of the ore.

At present, the sorting technology of brucite mainly includes the following aspects:

Gravity separation and magnetic separation technology: physical separation is carried out by using the density and magnetic difference between brucite and impurities.

Chemical purification method: synthesize brucite through chemical reaction, remove impurities and improve purity.

Flotation separation technology: By adding specific adjusters, such as PCE-11 and PDP to strengthen the DDA system, the floatability difference between brucite and serpentine in the flotation process can be expanded to achieve effective separation.

Intelligent identification and sorting technology: By introducing advanced image recognition technology and artificial intelligence algorithms, brucite can be efficiently and accurately graded, impurities can be removed, and the quality of the original ore can be improved.

For example, the intelligent sorting equipment developed by Mingde Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. can perform multi-dimensional feature recognition and sorting of ores in different size ranges through optoelectronic systems and artificial intelligence algorithms, greatly improving the accuracy and efficiency of sorting.

AI Intelligent Mineral Sorting Machine

Since its establishment in 2014, Hefei Mingde Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. has been professionally researching, producing and selling mining optoelectronic sorting equipment. The staff went deep into mines across China to investigate the difficulties and pain points of mining sorting problems, and developed a batch of precise sorting optoelectronic ore sorting equipment. Among them, the AI ​​intelligent sorting machine has high sorting accuracy and large sorting volume, which is very popular in the market and has significant effects on the sorting application of brucite.

In general, brucite sorting technology is developing rapidly towards higher efficiency, lower cost and more environmental protection. With the continuous improvement and promotion of technology, brucite is expected to play a greater role in industrial applications in the future.