Characterisation of various Jamaican bauxite ores by quantitative Rietveld X-ray powder diffraction and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy

The characterisation of bauxite ores, in particular, the iron mineralogy, is critical when determining their processability. In this study, various Jamaican bauxite ores have been characterised by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) utilising Rietveld quantitative phase analysis, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The only forms of iron minerals found were crystalline hematite and crystalline alumino-goethite of relatively small crystallite size. The results obtained by XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy were found to complement each other well, suggesting that for these samples, there is no indication of an appreciable amorphous iron phase present.