Magnetic Behavior of Natural Fe2O3 from Lhoong Iron Ore Mining Area, Aceh Province, Indonesia

The mineral composition and magnetic behavior of nano-Fe2O3 of iron ore from Lhoong mining area, Aceh province, were studied. The iron ore was prepared by mechanical milling method. The mineral and chemical compositions of samples were investigated by XRD and XRF analysis tests. The XRF test showed that the Lhoong iron ore contains Fe2O3 (93.88%) in association with other isomorphous impurities, such as SiO2, MnO, and Al2O3, in varying proportions. Compared to XRD results, it was consistent with XRF; the phase compositions of iron ore were mainly hematite (Fe2O3). The XRD revealed that hematite was the major mineral component in the Lhoong iron ores. SEM observation showed fine crystalline structure of Lhoong iron ore after the milling process. The main mineral morphology was microcrystalline in agglomerate forms. The magnetic properties of the samples after milling showed the increasing in the remanent (Br) and coercivity (Hc). This increasing can be explained that nano-Fe2O3 phase after milling for 20 hours plays an important role in the magnetic behavior of Lhoong iron ore. It is understood that the longer milling time is sufficient to complete the transformation of hematite (Fe2O3) to magnetite (Fe3O4).