Melesse Alemayehu (PhD)Jebessa Mammo2025-04-282025-04-282024-09https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/5385The Bikilal Iron Deposit is located in Gimbi, West Wollega zone of Oromia National Regional State, 440 kilometers west of Addis Ababa and is found at 25 kilometers northeast of Gimbi town. Its iron ore deposit is a Kiruna-type magnetite – ilmenite deposit that consists of magnetite, ilmenite, hematite, sulphides, and apatite. The principal ore minerals are magnetite and ilmenite. Bikilal iron ore with 57 million tons of magmatic origin. Its iron ore accounts 23.3% magnetic iron content and with 41% total iron. The main objective of the project is to characterize the mineralogy of Bikilal iron ore so as to identify the main valuable minerals, gangue minerals, and their relationships, as well as the grain size in the various ore phases.To study the mineralogy of Bikilal Iron Ore secondary data were collected. Primary data were gained from laboratory analysis for thin section and polish section (One sample each) done at Ethiopian Geological Survey of Ethiopia, X-Ray Diffraction analysis done at Adama Science and Technology University Laboratory. The Polish section analysis indicates that mineral compositions were 10% Pyrite, 15% Ilmenite, 20% Magnetite and 1% Chalcopyrite with xenoblastic texture and 54% gangue. Thin section analysis also indicate that the description of the ore were dark gray in color and fine to coarse grained in texture and its mineral compositions were 62% plagioclase, 30% hornblende, 5% Opaque, and 3% Biotite.. Six Chemical composition analysis by atomic absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) were taken from secondary data (Zewdneh Tassew, 1990) and (Debebe Tafesse, 1995) to analyze the major oxides present in the ore and their average results were 48.55% SiO2, 0.85% TiO2, 9.47% Fe2O3, 17.08% Al2O3, 8.68% MgO, 10.53% CaO, 2.35% Na2O, and 0.308% P2O5. Additionally, Seven X-ray florescence (XRF) results were taken from (tesfa Lemu, 2013) and the average results were 47.97% SiO2, 0.91%TiO2,17.52%Al2O, 9.65%Fe2O3, 0.13%MnO, 8.58%MgO, 12.03%CaO, 2,52%Na2O, 0.09%K2O, and 0.312%P2O5. Three samples were analyzed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) on the Bikilal iron Ore at Adama Science and Technology University Laboratory. The phases were identified as 52.2% Hornblende, 1.2%Biotite, 27.8% Actinolite, 6.3% Titanomagnetite, and 12.6% amphibole. The elemental composition of the XRD analysis were O, Si, Fe, Ca, Mg, Al, K,Ti with negligible amount of F and V. From analysis results above SiO2, TiO2, and Al2O3 make up the majority of the gangue minerals in Bikilal iron ore, with an unacceptably high concentration of the harmful element phosphorus. One explanation for the indication of a decrement in the amount of the key mineral in the ore (Fe2O3) is the relatively high silica content of the Bikilal iron ore, even when compared to the iron mineral hematite. This indicates the amount of the gangue is very high that exceeds the amount of the important mineral present in the ore. Others impurities found in the ore include MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, TiO2 and albeit in smaller amounts. The commercial ore should contain fewer than 6% and 4% of silica and alumina, respectively (Joan J. Kiptarus et al., 2015) but the Bikilal iron ore SiO2 and Al2O3 average content are 36.2% and 6.4% respectively, that is very big difference in respect to gangue contents. Alumina is a particular target during the beneficiation of iron ore and is a representation of pollution in the steel-making process. As a result, the Bikilal iron ore deposit's average quality is below the needed requirement, which is less than 40%, and is not comparable to the top iron ore nations, leading to the low-grade ores. The deposit of the ore can be exploited for multiple sources of different valuable commodities in addition to iron ore like phosphorus, Gold, Aluminium and Titanium.en-USMineralogicalvaluable mineralsgangue mineralsBikilal ironThesis