International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 30 (2020) 715–721

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International Journal of Mining Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmst

Mineralogical and petrographic analysis on the flake graphite ore

from Saba Boru area in Ethiopia
Allah D. Jara a, Girma Woldetinsae b, Amha Betemariam c, Jung Yong Kim a,d,⇑
a
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
b
The Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
c
Debre Berhan University, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia
d
School of Chemical Engineering, Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The mineralogy and petrography of natural graphite in Saba Boru of Ethiopia indicate that there exists
Received 5 December 2019 flake graphite with a slightly oval structured fine size according to our study on thin and polished sec-
Received in revised form 28 February 2020 tions. Herein, for estimating the carbon content in graphite, the ASTM-C561, the test method for ash in
Accepted 11 May 2020
a graphite sample, was used. For characterizing graphite, x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, inductively
Available online 8 June 2020
coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were also used. Chemical analysis
of ore samples determined that the average compositions are 63.35% SiO2, 15.45% Al2O3, 2.36% Fe2O3,
Keywords:
2.07% K2O, less than1% others, and loss-on-ignition (LOI) in the range of ~4.74%–37.42%. The total carbon
Mineralogy
Petrography
content of graphitic ore ranged from 4.11% to 33.14%. Importantly, when graphite is concentrated
Flake graphite through floatation, its average purity and recovery are 92.97% and 90.82%, respectively. Furthermore,
Flotation once the graphite concentrates are treated with hydrofluoric acid, the average value attains a high grade
Saba Boru of 96.48% C. Moreover, the average ash content is 81.93% (pre-flotation) and 3.1% (post-flotation), respec-
Ethiopia tively. Finally, after beneficiation, a silica is identified as a major gangue (85.88%), usable as a raw mate-
rial for other purposes such as cement. Hence, these graphite-bearing rocks seem to be worth exploring
for commercialization opportunities.
Ó 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction cubic structural diamond expressing sp3 tetrahedral hybridization

[5,6].
Graphite has multiple layers of parallel planar C6 rings, result- Based on the electronic and crystal structure–property relation-
ing in a polymorphic crystal structure of hexagonal close packing ship, natural graphite has density q = 2.26 g/cm3, anisotropic
(HCP) or rhombohedral, in which the in-plane C-C bond length is conductivity ratio r = 102–104 in single crystal graphite, average
0.14 nm. Comparatively, the size of benzene ring (or crystallo- compressibility b = 3.10  10 11 N/m2, shear modulus s = 2.30 
graphic vector a’s length in the HCP unit cell) is 0.25 nm, and the 109 N/m2, Young’s modulus E = 1.13  1014 N/m2, surface energy
interplanar distance (or crystallographic c/2) is 0.335 nm, respec- c = 0.12 J/m2, and sublimation point T = 4000–4200 K [7,8]. These
tively [1,2]. However, when the particle size of graphite is smaller excellent properties, specifically non-metallic attributes, enable
than 100 nm and a crystallite size (i.e. single crystal domain in various traditional applications such as refractories, lubrication,
polycrystals) is less than 20 nm, graphite will have partially ran- brake linings, pencils, paint, crucibles, coatings, and gaskets. Fur-
domized 2D ordering leading to turbostratic structure found in thermore, the metallic and thermal conductivities of graphite pro-
amorphous chars [3,4]. Hence, depending on the structural charac- vide new opportunities as an emerging material in energy,
teristics of graphite, it can be classified into three cases: crystalline environment, and electronic fields with applications including fuel
flake, lump or vein, and amorphous. Note that graphite or fullerene cells, Li-ion batteries, nuclear energy, thermal energy storage,
characterized with sp2 trigonal hybridization form allotropes with consumer electronics, graphene production, and water purification
[9–14]. Hence, due to these multidisciplinary purposes with on-
going industrialization and other economic utilities, the demand
of graphite has been growing rapidly each year [2].
⇑ Corresponding author. To date, natural graphite has been produced based on naturally
E-mail address: jungyong.kim@ju.edu.et (J.Y. Kim). occurring deposits found in many nations: in Asia e.g. China, India,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2020.05.025
2095-2686/Ó 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
716 A.D. Jara et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 30 (2020) 715–721

Sri Lanka, Japan, and Korea; in Europe e.g. Ukraine, Austria, and a loss-on-ignition (LOI) test. The sample was crushed and ground
Sweden; in the Americas e.g. Brazil, Mexico, and Canada; in Africa to a size fraction with particle size of less than 500 lm. One gram
e.g. Madagascar, and Zimbabwe. Specifically, Sri Lanka is notable (1 g) of the ground sample was heated in an oven (105 °C) for 24 h,
for its production of lump or vein, and Mexico is for amorphous then transferred to a high temperature muffle furnace (Engineering
and flake graphite. Other countries typically only produce flake and Environmental Solution-India) at 550 °C for 3 h, where the
graphite, although that graphite has different characteristics in organic impurities were removed, and finally, the sample was
each region. Note that some African countries such as Angola, heated for 2 h at a peak temperature of 1000 °C using the protocol
Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda are also as reported by [17,18].
known to have significant graphite-deposit reserves, indicating a Calcination of graphitic ore was analyzed by conducting the
potential graphite production in future [2]. thermal decomposition using a thermogravimetric analyzer
In Ethiopia at the horn of Africa, graphite deposits are still sub- (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) - TA Instruments
ject to exploitation and development for future industrialization. DSC SDT Q600. Here, 10 mg of powder with sizes ranging from 74
For example, significant graphite deposits were recently found at to 297 lm was placed in the ceramic sample holder and heated up
Saba Boru (SB) in Oromia, which is located at 500 km south from to 1000 °C at 20 °C/min under nitrogen gas flow at 20 mL/min.
the capital city, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. However, to date, there Nitrogen gas was used to create an inert environment around the
is no scientific study about this SB graphite (SB-G). Hence, in this sample. The sample was cooled down to room temperature after
study, the authors will report the mineralogical and petrographic maintaining at 1000 °C for 1 h to ensure the completion of the pro-
characteristics of SB-Gs in Ethiopia, for the first time. To this end, cess. The procedure was repeated for different particle sizes at the
the authors carried out flotation as a common method of benefici- same heating rate.
ation to obtain a qualified graphite concentrate [15,16], and inves- Graphite concentration analysis was carried out in a laboratory-
tigated the carbon percent in graphite, flake size, loss-on-ignition scale Denver 12 flotation cell, using collectors (diesel), frothers
(LOI) [17], gangue composition, texture, grain size variation of min- including pine oil and methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC), sodium car-
erals, and graphite-bearing rock composition. This study is mainly bonate (pH regulator), and sodium silicate as a dispersant [19]. A
intended to obtain preliminary information of SB graphite for its powder fraction with size of less than 500 lm was subjected to
potential commercialization in future. flotation [15]. A few drops of collectors were used for 0.25 kg of
sample. Concentrates were collected after a 5 min agitation. An
2. Materials and methods inflow of air from an inlet at the side of the flotation cell facilitated
flotation.
Six graphite-bearing rock samples from five locations were col-
lected from SB in Guji, Oromia, Ethiopia. The samples were crushed 3. Results and discussion
and powdered using a ball mill grinder. The powder was sieved in
the shaker (DY sieve shaker china) to separate according to the The preliminary identification of mineral composition for the
range of particle sizes (70–600 lm). Thin and polished particles six selective samples (SB-G1 to SB-G6) is shown in Table 1, and
were prepared for the mineralogical and petrographic analysis. the description of each hand specimen is described in Table 2.
Optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope The SB-G minerals were found to typically consist of graphite,
(SEM) (Jeol JSM 6100 with resolution of 4 nm, accelerating voltage quartz, hematite, muscovite (sericite), epidote, sphene, calcite, bio-
of 30 kV, magnification of 3 million with back scattered electron tite, chlorite, serpentinite, and actinolite, according to the point-
detector) were used for investigating the morphologies of samples. counting method in microscopy for estimating the composition
The petrographic study was carried out for macroscopic image of rocks [20]. Graphite-ore rocks are described in Tables 2 and 3,
analysis of representative thin sections of graphite-bearing rocks. explaining the textures and locations of the SB-G samples.
Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy data were obtained All the graphitic-bearing rock samples (SB-G1 to SB-G6) exhibit
from the Agilent Cary 630 spectrometer. Wavelength Dispersive X- a dark grey color and fine-to-large grain texture, and display a
ray Fluorescence (WD-XRF) Spectrometer was performed using the well-defined texture with parallel alignment. This observation
Bruker S8 Tiger to obtain elemental information for the graphite- seems to be common for graphite in the Saba Boru area. Further-
bearing rocks. For trace rare earth elements analysis, PerkinElmer more, according to mineralogical analysis for the six SB-G samples,
SCIEX quadrupole type, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spec- the pegmatite veins interlope the graphite of these areas. Micro-
trometer (ICP-MS) ELAN DRC-e were used to ionize the sample scopic analysis of thin sections shows quartz, feldspar, hematite,
for particle analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was also per- and pyrite minerals as the gangues.
formed to identify the crystal structure of both graphite-bearing Table 3 shows the graphite gneisses/schists and associated
rocks and concentrates. The characteristic x-ray of copper-Ka radi- lithostratigraphic units from different locations in SB area. The
ation was used in this diffraction study via x-ray diffractometer SB-G samples contain twelve associated minerals in the feed mate-
PANalytical X’Pert Pro (Cu anode, wavelength 0.154 nm, 2.2– rial in decreasing order: graphite, quartz, hematite, muscovite (ser-
60 kV, a long fine focus ceramic tube, type PW3373/00). Ash con- icite), epidote, sphene, calcite, biotite, chlorite, serpentinite, and
tent, moisture, and graphite carbon content were determined by actinolite (Tables 1 and 2). Petrographic images (Fig. 1) display that

Table 1
Mineral composition of graphite-bearing rocks at Saba Boru.

Mineral composition Sample (%)

SB-G1 SB-G2 SB-G3 SB-G4 SB-G5 SB-G6
Graphite 67 80 80 80 80 72
Quartz 12 13 5 10 15 19
Opaque (Fe-oxide) 6 2 1 2 2 6
Plagioclase 0 0 0 3 0 0
Muscovite (sericite) 15 5 10 0 3 3
Other minerals 0 0 4 5 0 0
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Table 2
Descriptions of graphite-bearing rocks at Saba Boru.

Characteristic Sample
SB-G1 SB-G2 SB-G3 SB-G4 SB-G5 SB-G6
Specific gravity (g/cm3) 2.56 2.37 2.31 2.60 2.61 2.56
Rock type Quartz-muscovite (sericite)-graphite schist Quartz-graphite schist Muscovite (sericite)-graphite schist
Description of texture Schistose texture Schistose texture Schistose texture Schistose texture matrix Schistose texture
quartz, graphite and matrix composed of muscovite (sericite), composed of quartz, graphite quartz, muscovite
muscovite (sericite) graphite, quartz, and quartz, graphite and and opaque minerals (iron (sericite) and graphite
show well defined muscovite show epidote show parallel oxide) show parallel show strong parallel
parallel alignment parallel alignment alignment alignment alignment
Description of Dark gray in color and fine grained in texture
hand specimen

Table 3
Graphite schists and lithostratigraphic units from different locations at Saba Boru.

No. Location code Trench starting Altitude (m) General remark

easting/northing
1 SB-G1 0499455/0600291 1529 A flaky graphite crosses the road to the Kenticha tantalum plant in the north–south direction.
2 SB-G2 0500335/0653526 1789 Massive outcrop, minor graphitic material forming schist
The outcrop is excavated for roadwork (aggregate).
3 SB-G3/SB-G5 0501749/0623521 1749 Trench excavated with host material quartzite
The graphite schist is massive to powdery with width more than 1 km and
it covers a strike length of several km.
SB-G3 is from the surface of the trench.SB-G5 is from the bed of the trench.
4 SB-G4 0501768/0623551 1753 Sample is from the surface of the trench.
5 SB-G6 0501742/0623324 1727 Massive graphite material
Sample is from bed of the trench.

the sample consists of graphite, quartz, and muscovite in the form radians) and angle h [24]. Accordingly, when the authors calculate
of both fine and coarse flakes dispersed in the silica matrix, with t for the (0 0 2) plane, t is 13.16 nm based on B = 0.01029 rad and
the minor quantity of epidote, sphene, calcite, biotite, chlorite, ser- h = 13.16°.
pentinite, and actinolite. Whole-rock compositions were obtained by XRF. However, rare
Fig. 2a shows a Hexagonal close packing (HCP) structure of gra- earth and trace elements were determined by ICP-MS. Table 4
phite with crystallographic parameters of a = 0.25 nm and shows the average chemical compositions of raw graphite ore
c = 0.67 nm, and Fig. 2b shows XRD patterns of both graphite ore based on the XRF results. The chemical analysis of graphite ore
and concentrate from flotation [21]. In the case of raw graphite samples shows an average value of 63.35% SiO2, 15.45% Al2O3,
ore, in addition to the graphite peaks, the other intense diffraction 2.36% Fe2O3, 2.07% K2O, <1% others (Na2O, MgO, P2O5, CaO, MnO),
peaks are observed, resulting from impurities such as calcite and LOI (from 4.74% to 37.42%). The rare earth elements observed
CaCO3, quartz, and others [22,23]. It is worth noting that the XRD from the ICP-MS analysis were Sc and Y with a quantity of less than
intensities are also proportional to the electronic density, indicat- 25 and 40 ppm, respectively. The total carbon content of graphite
ing that heavy elements compared to carbon may show intense bearing ore is from 4.11% to 33.14% with an average of 14% based
peaks (e.g. the calcite peak at 2h = 35.28° in Fig. 2b). When flotation on the data shown in Table 4. In the case of the tailings, the authors
was carried out using the graphite ore, the concentrate shows XRD find that the average values of the oxides are 85.88% SiO2, 9.11%
peaks at 2h = 26.32°, and 54.37°, corresponding to the HCP crystal- Al2O3, 1.37% Fe2O3, 0.96% K2O, <1% others (Na2O, MgO, P2O5,
lographic planes of (0 0 2), and (0 0 4), respectively (Fig. 2b). More- CaO), and 2.14% LOI (see Table 5).
over, using Bragg’s law (k = 2dsinh), the authors may estimate the Fig. 3 shows the thermal decomposition behavior of materials
interlayer spacing (d = 0.335 nm) at wavelength of k = 0.154 nm based on TGA. Herein, the weight loss of the samples is mainly
and angle of h = 13.16° at (0 0 2) plane, which is based on the attributed to the reaction of carbon with oxygen leading to the
coherent scattering of x-ray light at the crystal lattice [1,12]. Note release of CO2. Hence the red line (concentrate sample) in Fig. 3
that d is about a half of c = 0.67 nm in Fig. 2a [1]. Then using Scher- shows a dramatic weight loss up to 94% at ~ 550–1100 °C [16].
rer’s relation, t = 0.9k/(Bcosh), the authors may estimate the crys- However, in the case of graphite ore (the blue line in Fig. 3), the
tallite size (t) at full width at half maximum (FWHM, B in

Fig. 1. OM images of the graphite-bearing rock in plane polarized transmitted light: (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) indicate different thin sections of the graphite-bearing rock,
respectively.
718 A.D. Jara et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 30 (2020) 715–721

Fig. 2. HCP structure of graphite with a = 0.25 nm, c = 0.67 nm, and in-plane C-C bond length = 0.14 nm, and XRD patterns of the graphite ore and concentrate after floatation.

Table 4
Elemental analysis of the Saba Boru graphite (SB-G) ore.

Sample Composition (%)

Na2O MgO Al2O3 SiO2 P2O5 K2O CaO TiO2 MnO Fe2O3 Sum
SB-G1 0.18 0.88 19.44 52.76 0.02 0.78 0.35 0.88 0.03 5.77 81.09
SB-G2 0.21 0.52 5.31 54.81 0.04 0.49 0.11 0.14 0.00 0.92 62.55
SB-G3 0.36 0.14 14.24 75.82 0.06 1.30 0.09 0.94 0.00 0.42 93.37
SB-G4 0.60 0.42 14.25 70.33 0.06 3.54 0.06 0.93 0.00 0.90 91.09
SB-G5 0.62 0.26 18.34 69.73 0.08 2.39 0.07 0.74 0.00 0.89 93.12
SB-G6 0.52 0.46 15.10 62.65 0.08 3.93 0.02 0.96 0.01 5.25 88.98

Table 5
Elemental analysis of the tailings for the six SB-G samples based on XRF.

Sample Composition (%)

Na2O MgO Al2O3 SiO2 P2O5 K2O CaO TiO2 MnO Fe2O3 Sum LOI
SB-G1 0.11 0.31 3.72 92.19 0.01 0.18 0.03 0.07 0.00 1.61 98.35 1.65
SB-G2 0.10 0.53 11.54 82.54 0.01 0.29 0.11 0.29 0.00 2.79 98.20 1.16
SB-G3 0.17 0.01 9.13 86.17 0.02 0.70 0.08 0.73 0.01 0.14 98.15 1.02
SB-G4 0.13 0.12 8.11 85.42 0.01 2.14 0.01 0.71 0.00 0.51 97.16 2.01
SB-G5 0.42 0.18 11.54 84.89 0.02 1.09 0.05 0.49 0.00 0.69 99.37 0.64
SB-G6 0.29 0.21 10.19 83.58 0.05 1.39 0.00 0.63 0.00 2.46 98.80 1.01

decomposition is relatively small because of the presence of calcite Both sodium silicate as silica depressant and tannin as calcite
and other impurities. depressant were used for the flotation experiment. Light diesel
The FT-IR spectra of the samples of graphite-bearing rock and oil and methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) were used as collector
concentrate were displayed in Fig. 4. In all the spectra, oxidation and frother, respectively. Batch flotation studies were carried out
is confirmed by the presence of several bands attributed to using a laboratory Denver 1000 cm3 cell volume. Diesel as the col-
oxygen-containing functional groups [25,26]. The most intense lector was tested in various dosages in the ranges 100–150 g/t, and
peak is observed in the range of 900–1000 cm 1, which corre- MIBC as the frother was tested in the dosage range of 50–100 g/t.
sponds to C–O stretching. The second intense peak is located at The overall recovery and average weight percentage of total gra-
approximately 649 cm 1, which is from the C–H skeletal vibration phite carbon were presented in Table 7. Beneficiation was per-
of non-oxidized graphite [26,27]. When comparing Fig. 4a and b, it formed by using a simple mechanical cell floatation technique.
is found that graphite-ore powder contains higher level of impuri- This simple purification process enhanced the carbon content of
ties compared to graphite concentrate with negligible impurity the selected sample to ~93% with an average recovery of 90.82%.
peaks in the range of 900–1000 cm 1. Table 6 shows the analysis The increased carbon content in the concentrate is accompanied
of trace elements using XRF and ICP-MS for the corresponding by a net decrease of the other impurities as expected.
graphite-ore samples in Fig. 4a. The efficiency of flotation for calcite and muscovite removal is a
The froth flotation was carried out as follows. The graphite ore consequence of the synergistic effect of their high densities (4.31
obtained from the Saba Boru area contains a total carbon of and 2.8 g/cm3, respectively), compared to graphite (2.26 g/cm3),
~4.11%–33.14%. Mineralogical studies were carried out using both and the hydrophobicity difference of the materials [6,16]. Recall
OM and SEM. The graphite ore was ground to below 500 lm for that the XRD peaks from concentrate in Fig. 2b are indicative of
dissolution, calcination, and flotation studies. The dissolution was the HCP structure of graphite with minimal impurities, such as cal-
carried out using HCl/H2SO4 with different variable calcination in cite. All the tests were conducted at 10% solids at pH 7.5 with an
the muffle furnace at 550 °C and 850 °C in an inert atmosphere. impeller speed of 900 rpm. The graphite-ore slurry was condi-
 A.D. Jara et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 30 (2020) 715–721 719

result in considerable savings of water and reagents during the

final froth flotation process.
The SEM images of the graphite ore and concentrate in Fig. 5
show the clear difference of sample’s surface morphologies. These
acnes show partial porous points in the mineral crystal structure,
indicating the presence of another tiny gangue mineral in the con-
centrate. The different shades also indicate the presence of minor
associated gangue minerals as shown in Fig. 5a [28]. However,
the graphite concentrate with minimized gangues resulted in lar-
ger grains compared to the original graphite-bearing ore, as shown
in Fig. 5b.
Fig. 3. TGA of graphite ore and concentrate. In the scheme of the floatation test described in this work, a
steel rod was used as the coarse grinding media to ease the damage
tioned with diesel and MIBC for each 5 min, and the froth (float) of graphite flakes. In this step, the combination of 1.5 g/kg diesel oil
was collected until froth formation ceased. The collected float (collector), 0.5 g/kg tannin/sodium silicate (=1:1) (depressant), and
and tailings were dried, weighed and exposed to ash and total car- 1 g/kg MIBC/pine oil (=1:1) (frother) was applied in the commin-
bon analysis. uted raw material. Moreover, a pebble mill was implemented for
After floatation, sodium hydroxide was added to the concen- the remaining regrinding stage. Depressant, collector and flotation
trate ore and heated to 500 °C. Then, the soluble silicate was pro- processes were taken for 5 min each. The graphite-bearing rock
duced, in which water was added for eluting and concentrating, was coarsely ground (comminuted) one time in the first flotation,
and then followed by an HCl wash to remove metal impurities. and the coarse concentrate was reground three times including
After the acid-treatment process, almost all the metallic and non- the middling step and then refloated three times. After regrinding
metallic impurities were removed. Then through washing by dis- and refloating three times each, the intermediate concentrate was
tilled water, eventually, the high-temperature evaporator process screened in advance, and the +74 to 297 lm concentrate was
utilizing graphite’s thermal resistance was performed, and then directly collected as one of the final concentrates.
the sample was isolated from the air, followed by heating to more The results of the floatation process indicate that the average
than 1000 °C. Most impurities were evaporated by thermal heating product grade of at least 92.97% and the product recovery of
and subsequent cooling. The purified natural graphite with very 90.78% could be achieved in a fixed process flow configuration as
high carbon content was produced and the result is confirmed by described in Fig. 6. Note that the graphite-bearing rocks containing
XRD in Fig. 2 and XRF in Tables 4 and 5. The aforementioned considerable amounts of calcite and pyrite show very high initial
bench-scale beneficiation tests upgraded the carbon content of ash values as shown in Table 7. Importantly, the results in Table 7
the graphite to an average grade of 96.48% under froth flotation via the process in Fig. 6 indicate a consistent recovery range of
and after acid leaching. Approximately, about 25% of the head more than 89.59% and a grade of higher than 90.74% total graphite
material was rejected by using air classification prior to froth flota- carbon regardless of the feed grade. This result indicates that the
tion. This highly effective pre-concentration of graphite would SB-G minerals have consistent upgradability across feed grade
and lithology type.

(a) Graphite ore (b) Concentrate

Fig. 4. FT-IR spectra of graphite ore and concentrate.

Table 6
Analysis of trace elements using XRF and ICP-MS for elemental specification.

Sample Trace elements: composition (ppm)

Ba Cr V Sc Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Pb Th Rb U Sr Y Zr Nb
SB-G1 260 174 290 24 98 5 35 12 21 27 6 24 5.4 21 16 190 6
SB-G2 540 156 121 11 34 9 13 18 16 7 11 12 4.5 33 17 121 5
SB-G3 455 129 106 15 50 4 9 0 16 6 18 26 6.5 52 33 211 14
SB-G4 2046 243 579 20 10 8 16 9 22 12 14 97 4.0 130 27 181 13
SB-G5 629 135 134 15 53 10 17 0 17 9 7 50 3.6 136 20 145 7
SB-G6 1290 241 306 14 18 40 31 48 20 14 10 112 3.4 228 36 199 12
720 A.D. Jara et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 30 (2020) 715–721

Table 7
Comparison among the total carbon content of graphite ore and concentrate after flotation.
a b c d e
Sample Total feed Feed grade Graphite in feed Concentrate Concentrate grade Tailing Tailing grade Yield Recovery
(g) (%) (g) (g) (%) (g) (%) (g) (%)
SB-G1 250.00 33.14 82.85 85.20 94.71 167.15 1.31 34.08 97.39
SB-G2 250.00 18.29 45.73 46.23 94.81 204.27 0.93 18.49 95.86
SB-G3 250.00 4.11 10.28 9.12 90.74 239.72 0.83 3.65 80.54
SB-G4 250.00 8.13 20.33 19.22 92.31 229.67 1.12 7.69 87.28
SB-G5 250.00 4.94 12.35 12.14 91.93 237.65 0.51 4.86 90.18
SB-G6 250.00 9.71 24.28 24.05 93.34 225.72 0.81 9.62 92.46

Notes: Total feed a: graphite-bearing rock with different initial grades; Graphite in feed b (i.e. the expected pure graphite) = Total feed  Feed grade/100; Tailing c = Total feed
– Graphite in feed; Yield d = (Concentrate/Total feed)  100; and Recovery e = (Conc. grade/Feed grade)  [(Feed grade – Tailing grade)/(Conc. grade – Tailing grade)]  100.

(a) Graphite ore (b) Concentrate

Fig. 5. SEM images of graphite ore and concentrate.

Fig. 7. Particle size distributions measured from sieve analysis.

tion was found to be 165 mm. More than 80% of target materials
were found in the range of 30 to +200 mesh, implying that there
are no free and liberated graphite flakes in all size ranges, and that
size reduction is necessary before attempting to recover the
graphite values. In this study, all of the six samples contain gra-
phite flakes predominantly in the medium ( 177 +149 lm) to
large (+300 lm) category. The SB-G1 sample contains 13.9% in
the large flakes, 67.6% in the medium, 10.9% in the small, and
3.7% in the fine flakes (see Table 8 for all the other samples).

4. Conclusions

The mineralogy and petrography of the Saba Boru graphite

(SB-G) in Ethiopia were studied. The minerals associated with the
graphite are quartz, hematite, muscovite and sericite as major
gangues, and epidote, sphene, calcite, biotite, chlorite, serpentinite,
Fig. 6. Flow chart for a laboratory processing of graphite.
and actinolite as minor or trace ones. The fine flake SB-Gs are
observed to have a relatively oval shape. Importantly, the authors
demonstrated that the product grade is higher than 92% and the
Particle size distributions were also assessed using a dry sieve recovery of the flotation is larger than 90%. Here, the high ash con-
classification (Fig. 7). According to this test, most of the graphitic tent in the SB-G ore is due to the significant calcite and pyrite min-
carbon sizes range from ~ 74 to 297 lm. Both the particle size dis- eral impurities. Based on the rock-mineral identification and
tribution and the weight percentage retained on each sieve along chemical composition analysis, the authors proved that the SB-G
with their total carbon content are presented in Table 8. The calcu- ore contains high-grade fine graphite with various components,
lated average particle size of the graphite samples under investiga- including rich gangue minerals such as quartz, sericite, muscovite

Table 8
Average product size fractions from the particle size conversion of U.S. standard mesh sieves. Note that, from both the yield and the particle size distribution in each mesh, the
weight percent of graphite concentrate was calculated.

Product description Size fraction (lm) Mesh Flotation fraction (%)

SB-G1 SB-G2 SB-G3 SB-G4 SB-G5 SB-G6
Extra large flake 590 + 297 30 + 50 0.9 1.4 0 1.11 0 1.1
Large flake 297 + 177 50 + 80 13.9 24.1 17.8 13.2 11.7 9.3
Medium flake 177 + 149 80 + 100 67.6 55.8 70.1 67.19 78.7 66.3
Small flake 149 + 74 100 + 200 10.9 12.2 7.9 10.1 7.7 16.8
Fine flake 74 200 3.7 4.5 4.2 5.1 1.9 6.3
 A.D. Jara et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 30 (2020) 715–721 721

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