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Summary of hydrometallurgical processes developed for the direct leaching of nickel sulfide flotation concentrates and status of the technology.
Source publication
The extraction of nickel (Ni) from sulfide resources commences with flotation to produce a concentrate which is then smelted to produce a nickel-enriched phase called matte, and further refined to produce pure Ni products as well as by-products, such as cobalt (Co), copper (Cu) and precious metals. However, the traditional concentrate smelting-matt...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... only Stieper (2018) commercialized ammonia leaching process to date for the direct treatment of nickel sulfide concentrates is the SherrittGordon ammonia pressure leaching process which is currently in use at Fort Saskatchewan, Canada, and Kwinana, Western Australia. The Sherritt-Gordon process is essentially a pressure oxidation process carried out in aqueous ammoniaammonium sulfate at elevated temperature using air as an oxidant; the key operating characteristics and features of the process are listed in Table 5 and compared against other piloted and commercialized processes. The leaching technology was developed to process nickel concentrate from Lynn Lake (Canada) grading 10-16% Ni, 1-2% Cu and 0.3-0.4% Co, where a hydrometallurgical process was deemed to be more cost effective than concentrate smelting and matte refining (Forward 1953;Forward and Mackiw 1955;Kerfoot 1989). ...Context 2
... acid pressure oxidation processes for the treatment of nickel flotation concentrates are by far the most numerous and advanced with respect to pilot plant development and commercial deployment. The key features of the piloted processes are presented in Table 5. Several nickel processing operations have practiced pressure oxidation which are presented in Table 4. Two of these operations have been closed (Fredericktown and Garfield, both in the USA) but have been briefly described for historical purposes. ...Context 3
... December 1991, the Kokkola refinery began processing a low grade, high magnesia (10% MgO) nickel sulfide flotation concentrate from the Hitura mine (Finland) grading 5-7% Ni. The plant used a pressure oxidation process (HIKO process -refer to Table 5) in autoclaves at temperatures below the melting point of sulfur (<120°C) with oxygen gas at 500 kPa pressure (Berezowsky 2000;Nyman et al. 1992). Additional details of the HIKO process such as acid addition to the leach charge, concentrate feed particle size, leaching time and degree of sulfide conversion to elemental sulfur are unknown (Berezowsky 2000). ...Context 4
... processing of nickel flotation concentrate is carried out by Vale Limited at Long Harbor using nickel concentrate produced from the Voisey's Bay nickel deposit; the first shipment of metallic nickel produced from the plant occurring in 2015 (Anon 2015). A simplified flowsheet of the Voisey's Bay Process is presented in Figure 6 and the key features of the leaching stages are summarized in Table 5. The process commences with regrinding of the flotation concentrate to below 20 µm followed by a first stage leach in sulfuric acid (return electrolyte from Ni-electrowinning) at ambient pressure using a mixture of chlorine gas and oxygen as the oxidant (produced from the Ni-electrowinning circuit). ...Context 5
... of these processes have been deployed commercially for the processing of nickel sulfide concentrates though the Albion Process TM has been commercially deployed for processing gold, copper and zinc concentrates and may therefore be suitable for leaching of nickel flotation concentrates. The key features of both processes are presented in Table 5 and are briefly described below. ...Context 6
... the successful application of chloride leaching in nickel matte refining, the only chloride-based leaching process developed at scale for processing nickel sulfide concentrates is the HydroNic process developed by Outotec Oyj (Karonen, Tiihonen, and Haavanlammi 2009) and key details of the process are summarized in Table 5. HydroNic employs a two-stage leaching process to dissolve Ni, Co and Cu from base metal sulfide concentrates. ...Similar publications
China generates about 20 million tons of solid waste for copper production each year, most of which comes from pyrometallurgy, leading to substantial environmental problems. Extracting valuable metal is a common way of recycling copper pyrometallurgical solid waste (CPSW). However, its environmental effects are still unclear. This paper adopts a cr...
Citations
... The Jinchuan deposit is the third largest magmatic copper-nickel sulfide deposit in the world and the largest one in China [5]. In general, increasing the grade of nickel sulfide ore for smelting is important for the full utilization of the resource [6]. With the continuous mining of nickel sulfide ore, the proportion of low-grade ore keeps increasing [7]. ...
The effect of microwave treatment on the grinding and flotation performance of a typical copper–nickel sulfide ore was evaluated, based on the determination of its microwave absorption capability, grinding and flotation indexes such as crack percentage, mineral liberation degree, particle size distribution, relative work index (RWI), metal enrichment ratio and recovery. There were obvious differences between the microwave absorption capabilities of the main minerals in the ore, as demonstrated by their different microwave penetration depths. They also induced temperature differences between sulfide minerals and gangue minerals which could reach 418 °C after microwave treatment for 20 s. It was shown that microwave treatment could effectively improve the grindability of the ore, as proven by the increase in fine particles smaller than 0.074 mm and the decrease in RWI after grinding due to the higher crack percentage and mineral liberation degree. Moreover, microwave treatment affected the ore floatability because of the generation of cuprite, retgersite, and rozenite with poor floatability when the treatment time was extended. By microwave treatment for a proper time, 20 s, an optimal balance between the grindability and flotation performance could be achieved. Compared with the untreated ore, the RWI of the ore decreased by 11.5%. After flotation, the Cu and Ni enrichment ratios of the flotation concentrate increased by 0.3 and 0.2, respectively. Meanwhile, their corresponding recoveries increased by 4.2% and 3.1%. This study provides new insights for the treatment of copper–nickel sulfide ore to enhance the grinding and flotation process.
... Nickel production relied heavily on sulfide ores in the bygone days. With the depletion of high-grade nickel sulfide ores, the nickel production industry is shifting its focus to nickel oxide or laterite ores, which boast more attractiveness [1,2]. Nickel is sixth in abundance on the earth after iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium. ...
For the recovery of nickel from Egyptian sheared serpentinized ultramafic rock leaching solution from Um Seleimat ophiolites in the southeastern desert, a composite tetraethylene pentaamine/treated bentonite (TEPA/TB) was prepared using a wet technique. Devices including SEM, XRD, FTIR, EDS, and BET were manipulated to discover more about the TEPA/TB adsorbent after it was made. Nickel ions were adsorbed for nickel chloride solution by TEPA/TB composite. The optimal Ni ions sorption parameters were 150 mg/L Ni ions by reacting 50 mg TEPA/TB with Ni ions at pH 5 for 60 minutes at 25 °C. The TEPA/TB composite was found to have excellent sorption characteristics for Ni ions in its solution, as evaluated by the nickel recovery behaviors. The highest capacity of Ni ions taken up was 132.5 mg/g. Pseudo-second-order and Langmuir's isotherm fit the sorption mechanism quite well. Ni ions sorption onto the TEPA/TB composite was found to be an exothermic, random, and spontaneous process in the thermodynamic analyses. Using 0.7 M H2SO4 for 40 minutes, Ni ions were also desorbed from Ni/TEPA/TB. In addition, after eight cycles of Ni ions adsorption-desorption, the TEPA/TB sorbent was regenerated. TEPA/TB sorbent was used to recover nickel ions for serpentine-bearing rock after dissolution to gain Ni ions leachate using 4 M HCl, a stirring speed of 275 rpm, and a 1/8 S/L ratio for 4 hours of contact time at 25 °C. Finally, the Ni ions' adsorption-desorption on TEPA/TB was applied to gain a NiSO4 solution, which was used to precipitate nickel as Ni(OH)2. The precipitate was calcined to NiO, which has a 75.83% purity level of Ni ions.
... The commonly used types of reducing agents include solid-based reducing agents (anthracite or coke) and gas-based reducing agents (CO, H2, CH4, etc.). Su et al. (2022) used carbon as a reducing agent in their experiment and increased the grade of nickel in the concentrate with the help of additives [10]. However, the high temperature of carbon thermal reduction and the large amount of carbon dioxide emissions do not meet the current policy requirements of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. ...
Under the background of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, compared with a traditional carbon thermal reduction to produce nickel, gas-based reduction has outstanding advantages in efficiency and carbon reduction. However, there are few studies on gas-based reduction at present. This article explores the reduction behavior of methane on laterite nickel ore. The effects of different reaction temperatures, reaction times and gas concentrations on the reduction reaction were studied. The phase and morphology of laterite nickel ore and its calcined products were analyzed by XRD, SEM-EDS and gas chromatography. The results show that when the reduction temperature is 900 °C, the reduction time is 60 min, and the concentration of CH4 is 50%, a concentrate with a nickel grade of 3.06% and a recovery of 52.09% can be obtained. After analysis, the reason for the low nickel grade and recovery rate in the concentrate is, on the one hand, due to the incomplete reduction of NiO, and a large amount of nickel still exists in the silicate in the tailings; on the other hand, it is due to the fine grain size of the partially reduced nickel iron alloy, which is lost in the tailings and filtrate.
... Acidic and/or alkaline conditions with concentrated sulfuric acid and/or sodium hydroxide at high temperature and pressure are used to extract Co, releasing toxic waste (Mambwe et al. 2022;Seyrankaya and Canbazoǧlu 2021;Zhang et al. 2019). Also, Co is found mixed in the ore, so chemical separation of each type leads to inefficient overall recovery (Faris et al. 2021(Faris et al. , 2022b. Furthermore, the environmental performance in Co production is heavily influenced by the production route, applied methods, and technology utilized. ...
... Simplified process flow diagram for the hydrometallurgical processing of black schist ore from the Sotkamo deposit at the Talvivaara heap bioleaching operation (Finland). Reproduced from(Faris et al. 2022b). ...
... Simplified process flow diagram for the bioleaching of Ni and Co concentrate produced as a by-product of talc mining at Mondo Minerals Vuonos talc concentrator operations in Finland. Reproduced from(Faris et al. 2022b). ...
The production of critical metals for emerging clean technologies also requires more sustainable, cleaner and cost-effective processing options. The recovery of cobalt (Co) via pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical methods has proved to be successful and practicable; nevertheless, these processes are difficult to manage, have a high operating cost, and produce secondary waste products. In recent years, bioleaching has increasingly gained favor as a method for extracting Co from ores, concentrates, and tailings. The availability of Co in primary and tailings resources, as well as the bioleaching approaches from these deposits are discussed in this paper. Bioleaching of Co has been investigated from primary sources such as Cu-Co deposits, polymetallic Ni-Co-Cu deposits, Co sulfides and arsenides, Ni-Co laterites, and secondary sources including tailings materials. The microorganisms and methods utilized in Co bioleaching from these sources, as well as parameters influencing the bioleaching process, and ways for improving Co bioleaching efficiency, have all been thoroughly discussed in this review. This study examines the potential of different microorganisms to solubilize Co from sulfide and laterite deposits by performing an in-depth meta-analysis of the individual research findings to enable inter-study comparisons and identify research gaps. The reviewed laboratory studies and existing industrial practices for Co bioleaching in this paper intend to offer some inspiration for further research into innovative technologies that may be used to sustainably extract Co, mainly from ores, concentrates and tailings resources.
As the global demand for nickel transitions from ferronickel to nickel sulfate for batteries, the nickel sulfide ore reserves are becoming increasingly more difficult to mine. Although, the mining of the nickeliferous laterite ores is much simpler, the extraction of the metal is more challenging, with limited process options. Furthermore, the current processing techniques are costly and have environmental issues, resulting in the need to develop alternative technologies through laboratory research and pilot plant testing. In this paper, firstly, an overview is provided of the composition plus mineralogy of both the limonitic and the saprolitic nickeliferous laterite ores and of the current commercial techniques that are employed to process these ores. Secondly, the pyrometallurgical research work reported in the literature on the production of a nickel concentrate by selective reduction followed by magnetic separation is reviewed. The main objectives are to achieve a high nickel recovery and to produce a concentrate with a high nickel grade. Thirdly, the role of additives, in particular the sulfur-containing species, is evaluated. Fourthly, the main issues involved in the processing of these ores and of particular importance, the areas that require further research and development are discussed. Finally, the potential of these new developing processes to replace the current commercial operations is assessed.
Ni and Co, mostly produced from sulfide resources, are critical energy metals required for the green energy transition. A significant portion of the Ni and Co in the processed ore, particularly for disseminated mafic/ultramafic ores, is not recovered due to the deportment to fine slimes which has been dumped as tailings during the flotation process. This study applied an alkaline glycine-based leaching method to selectively recover Ni and Co from a pyrrhotite-rich flotation slime and investigated the deportment of impurities. Leaching variables, including dissolved oxygen (DO) level (5–25 ppm), pH modifier (NaOH, KOH and ammonia), particle size and pre-oxidation, were investigated. The highest extractions of 86.2 % for Ni and 79.7 % for Co were achieved by leaching at glycine/(Ni + Cu) molar ratio of 4, DO of 15 ppm, pH of 10.2 (adjusted with ammonia), 10 % solids and 30 °C using a sample size at a grind size P80 of 17 µm within 72 h. Ni that is mineralised in pentlandite can be easily leached by glycine, and oxygen addition is essential for the extraction of Ni and Co when mineralised as sulfides. The study has shown a higher overall metals extraction and faster leaching kinetics, shortening the leaching from 72 to 24–48 h, when ammonia was used as a pH modifier. The alkaline glycine-based leaching achieved both higher Ni and Co extractions and higher rejections of impurities compared with conventional sulfuric acid leaching, with the concentrations of Fe being <250 ppm and Ca and Mg <15 ppm in the leachate. Residue analysis revealed a mechanism of preferable dissolution of pentlandite over pyrrhotite. The Fe and Mg deportment before and after leaching remained similar, which confirmed the high selectivity of the alkaline glycine-based leaching.
