Abstract: A Yunnan manganese-iron ore is a refractory one due to its high iron-manganese ratio, being severely weathered and in clay status, and its micro-fine mineral dissemination particle size.Conventional high intensity magnetic separation, gravity separation and flotation process had little separation effect on this ore.Therefore, a process consisting of magnetic reductive roasting-low intensity magnetic separation for iron-reverse flotation of manganese from the tailings of iron flotation was adopted for treating this ore.As a result, an iron concentrate grading 55.50% at a recovery of 65.81% and a manganese concentrate grading 34.55% at a recovery of 78.47% were obtained, thus providing a new way for the separation of similar refractory manganese-iron ore.

Key words: Refractory manganese-iron ore, Magnetization reductive roasting, Low intensity magnetic separation, Reverse flotation