Investigation of planetary ball milling of sericite for potash recovery

Sericite sample having potash (K2O) content ~9% is evaluated as a source of potash. The mineralogical studies revealed the fine grain structure of sericite containing muscovite, orthoclase and phlogopite as the major potash bearing phases. The feed sample directly leached in different lixiviants yielded low potash dissolution values. Planetary ball milling was carried out to liberate the potash values from silicate matrix. Leaching was adopted to assess the liberated K values and within milling time of 10–12 h almost 90% potash was leached out. Based on XRD analysis, orthoclase and phlogopite were found to be the toughest potash – bearing phase in terms of dissociation. Compared to other processes, mechanical activation process adopted in this work is simple, environment-friendly and minimal waste generation without using the chemical additive.