Ydrometaellurg Id 5063
Ydrometaellurg Id 5063
Ydrometaellurg Id 5063
1033–1047
HYDROMETALLURGICAL
PROCESSING OF NICKEL
LATERITIC ORES
Srećko R. Stopića, Bernd G. Friedrichb
RWTH Aachen University, Faculty of Georesources
and Materials Engineering,
IME Process Metallurgy and Metal Recycling, Aachen, Germany
a
e-mail: [email protected],
ORCID iD: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1752-5378
b
e-mail: [email protected],
ORCID iD: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2934-2034,
DOI: 10.5937/vojtehg64-10592
Summary:
Nickel production is a very important activity for the European
Union because nickel is a unique constituent of stainless steel. Europe
has lateritic (oxidic) ore deposits along a very well-known belt starting
from the Alps and ending to the Himalayas. The lateritic belt passes
through western Balkans and Greece and continues through Turkey to
Asia. The known lateritic deposits in Serbia are located in three
different areas called: Zapadna Morava (Rudjinci, Veluce, Ba),
Sumadija (Lipovac, Kolarevici, Bucje) and Mokra Gora, which have
many natural resources such as forests, rivers, etc. Therefore, it is very
important to understand and show hydrometallurgical treatments of
lateritic ores via mining and metallurgy in different parts of the world. In
this paper, several exploitation scenarios for hydrometallurgical
treatment and benefication of lateritic ores will be shown: Direct Nickel
Process, Ravensthorpe and Murrin Murrin in Australia and Meta Cobalt
Nickel in Turkey.
Key words: nickel, cobalt, lateritic ore, hydrometallurgy, autoclave.
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Introduction
Nickel is a naturally occurring, silvery-white metallic element widely
used in over 300,000 products for catalysis, consumer, industrial, military,
transport, aerospace, marine and architectural applications. Nickel has been
used since ancient times. Because of its resistance to corrosion, nickel has
been occasionally used historically as a substitute for decorative silver.
Pure nickel was extracted by Axel Cronstedt from the ore niccolite (nickel
arsenide, NiAs) in 1751. Because of its presence in copper ores, this
element got its name from the German word 'kupfernickel' meaning Devil's
copper. It is the fifth most common element on earth and occurs extensively
in the earth's crust. In this work, different hydrometallurgical processes for
the treatment of nickel laterite ores will be presented. Nickel is not a
cumulative toxicant. Some people may show an allergy sensibility to nickel,
affecting their skin (about 5 to 10 % in Europe).
As a result of high nickel production costs associated with traditional
pyrometallurgical techniques and the depletion of high-grade sulfide ores,
a renewed interest has developed concerning the production of nickel and
cobalt by high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) of nickel laterites. More than
one third of the world’s nickel is nowadays produced from laterite ores
(Bergmann, 2003, pp.127-138). Laterites account for two thirds of the
world’s nickel resources. It is therefore likely that increasing amounts of
nickel will be produced from laterites. Since laterite type ores naturally
occur close to the surface, economical open pit mining techniques are
employed to recover the ore after the removal of the overburden
(Whittington & Muir, 2000, pp.527-600). The laterite ore consists of fresh
saprolite, limonite and nontronite. These ores represent various layers in
the laterite bedrock. Limonite consists mainly of goethite, a hydrated iron
oxide such as FeO(OH), HFeO2, or Fe2O3·H2O. This continues to a
nontronite rich zone. Saprolite is the next layer, which is distinguished
from its rich magnesium silicate content. The chemical analyses of a few
chosen ores are shown in Table 1 (Stopić, 2004, pp.257-266)
Table 1 – ICP Analyses of the Average Content of Laterite Ore from “Rudjinci”,
Serbia and from “Silcrete”, Australia
Таблица 1 – ICP Анализ среднего объема латеритных руд в «Руджинцы»,
Сербия и в “Silcrete”, Австралия
Tabela 1 – ICP analize prosečnog sadržaja lateritnih ruda nikla u „Ruđinci“ (Srbija)
i „SIlcrete“ (Australija)
Element “Rudjinci”, Serbia (wt %) “Silcrete”, Australia (wt %)
Si 25.33 17.40
Fe 14.90 26.42
Al 2.12 4.16
Cr 1.30 0.67
Ni 1.13 0.78
Co 0.05 0.05
Mg 3.22 1.70
Mn 0.37 0.25
Na 0.04 0.04
K 0.04 0.05
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Stopić, S., et al, Hydrometallurgical processing of nickel lateritic ores, pp. 1033–1047
As shown in Table 1, the nickel content in oxidic ores amounts to
between 0.78 and 1.13 wt. %. The main accompanying elements are
silicium, iron, magnesium and aluminium. The above mentioned ores
were investigated under high pressure conditions in an autoclave. The
comparative analysis of different minerals shows a different content of
important elements, what is very important for the choice of leaching.
Leaching Methods
In hydrometalurgical processes, three different methods are usually
used: tank leaching, heap leaching and high pressure acidic leaching
HPAL. Tank leaching uses a stirrer and reagents to get the reaction
started. An overflow leads the suspension to another tank, where the
pregnant solution and the slurry are separated by a solid/liquid
separation process.
Figure 1 – Leaching under atmospheric pressure: tank (left) and heap (right)
Рис. 1 – Промывка при атмосферном давлении: в баке (слева) и в куче (справа)
Slika 1 – Luženje pri atmosferskom pritisku: u tanku (levo) i na gomilama (desno)
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The hydrometallurgical processing of nickel lateritic ores begins with
an acidic solution (Dry &Haris, 2012, pp.20-35). The dominant acid so far
has been sulphuric acid, but research work has been published on the
process using hydrochloric acid or nitric acid. Sulphuric acid, hydrochloric
acid, and nitric acid are the three major mineral acids for the leaching of
laterites. The comparative analysis has shown that both the chloride and
the nitrate circuits examined have appreciably lower operating costs than
the sulphate circuits. The dissolution kinetics of nickel lateritic ore in an
aqueous acid solution of three metabolic acids, i. e. citric acid, oxalic acid
and acetic acid was investigated in a batch reactor individually (Sahu et
al., 2011, pp.251-258). The percentage of nickel leaching for different
acids at the time intervals of 40, 80 and 120 hours at a concentration of
1M was studied. Oxalic acid was the most efficient leaching agent
compared to the other two used acids. The maximum leaching efficiency
was about 30% under the above mentioned conditions. Superiadi has
performed a comparative analysis of different leaching processes for
lateritic ores.
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Figure 3 – Flowchart of the Direct Nickel Process
Рис. 3 – Схема операций Direct Nickel Proces
Slika 3 – Pregled operacija u „Direct Nickel Procesu”
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Figure 4 – Process Flow Chart for Ore Beneficiation (Ravensthorpe Nickel Project)
Рис. 4 – Схема “Ravensthorpe Nickel Project” обогащения руды
Slika 4 – Šema „Ravensthorpe Nickel Project” radi obogaćivanja rude
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Figure 5 – Flowchart of the META Cobalt Nickel Process
Рис. 5 – Схема META Cobalt Nickel Process
Slika 5 – Šema za „META Kobalt Nikal Process”
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Conclusion
Hydrochloric, nitric and sulphuric acids were successfully used for
the leaching of laterite ores. The dissolution kinetics of lateritic ores in an
acidic solution of three metabolic acids confirmed low leaching efficiency
of nickel and cobalt. Tank leaching, heap leaching and high pressure
acidic leaching are mostly used for the hydrometallurgical treatment of
lateritic ores. The Direct Nickel Proces, the Meta Cobalt Nickel Process
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and the Murrin Murrin Process show a high potential for the production of
nickel and cobalt. The application of HPAL for laterites is expected to
continue - especially for large projects and high grade deposits.
Regarding lower grade deposits, further development of the heap
leaching process for small projects is expected. The beneficiation
process of laterite ores was successfully performed in the Ravensthorpe
plant in Australia in order to produce a nickel concentrate. Finally, nickel
and cobalt have become essential materials in modern life.
References
Adams, M., & et al., 2004. Piloting of the Beneficiation and EPAL Circuits for
Ravensthorpe Nickel Operations. In: W. Imrie& et al. Eds., International Laterite Nickel
Symposium, pp.193-202
Bergman, R. 2003. Nickel Production from low-iron Laterite Ores: Process
description. CIM Bulletin, 96, pp.127-138.
Büyükakıncı, E., & Topkaya, Y.A. 2009. Extraction of Nickel from Lateritic Ores at
Atmospheric Pressure with Agitation Leaching. Hydrometallurgy, 97, pp.33-38.
Dry, M., & Haris.B., 2012. Nickel laterite and three mineral acids . In: ALTA Nickel
and Cobalt conference, pp.20-35
Evans, N. 2013. Minara finally puts troubled Murrin Murrin past to bed, The West
Australian, p.63.
McCarthy, F. & Brock, G. 2011. The Direct Nickel Process: Continued Progress on
the Pathway to Commercialisation. In: ALTA Conference, pp.2-11
Sahu, S., Kavuri, N., & Kundu, M. 2011. Dissolution Kinetics of Nickel laterite ore using
different secondary metabolic acids.Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 258, p.251.
Stopic, S., & Friedrich, B. 2011. Pressure Hydrometallurgy: A new chance for non-
polluting processes. Vojnotehnicki glasnik / Military Technical Courier, 59(3), pp.29-44.
Stopić, S., Friedrich, B., Fuchs, R., & Anastasijevic, N. 2004. Kinetics of high pressure
leaching of nickel lateritic ores "Silcrete". Acta Metallurgica Slovaca, 2, pp.257-266.
Superiadi, A. 2008. Processing Technology vs Nickel Laterite Ore Characteristic.
Retrieved from
http://www.powershow.com/view1/1b35aa-ZDc1Z/Processing_Technology_vs_Ni/
Whittington, B. & Muir, D. 2000. Pressure Acid Leaching of Nickel Laterites:
A Review. Min. Pro. Ext. Mat. Rev., 21, pp.527-600.
Retrieved from http://www.minara.com.au/about/operations-overview/technology.
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Резюме:
Производство никеля представляет важную отрасль
промышленности в Евросоюзе, так как никель является
составляющим элементом в производстве нержавеющей стали.
Европа обладает ресурсами оксидных руд, находящихся на
большой территории от Альп до Гималаев, охватывая западную
часть Балкан и Грецию, простилаясь через Турцию до Азии.
Известные резервы латеритных руд находятся в Сербии,
располагаясь в трех зонах: Западная Морава (Руждинцы, Велуце,
Ба), Шумадия (Липовац, Коларевичи, Бучье) и Мокра Гора,
представляющих собой природные ресурсы, такие как: лес, реки и
пр. Очень важно понимать и оценить применение латеритных
руд в области горной промышленности и металлургии в разных
частях мира. В данной статье представлено несколько
эксплуатационных сценариев латеритных руд в области
гидрометаллургии: Direct Nickel Process, Murrin Murrin и
Ravensthorpe в Австралии, и META Process в Турции.
Ключевые слова: никель, кобальт, латеритные руды,
гидрометаллургия, автоклав.
Sažetak:
Proizvodnja nikla je vrlo značajna aktivnost u zemljama Evropske
unije, jer nikal je važan dodatak u nerđajućim čelicima. Evropa ima re-
surse oksidnih ruda duž dobro poznatog prostora koji započinje od Al-
pa i završava se na Himalajima. Ovaj opasač prolazi kroz zapadni Bal-
kan i Grčku i nastavlja se kroz Tursku do Azije. Poznati depoziti laterit-
nih ruda u Srbiji smešteni su u tri zone: Zapadnoj Moravi (Ruđinci, Ve-
luce, Ba), Šumadiji (Lipovac, Kolarevići, Bučje) i Mokroj gori, koje pred-
stavljaju prirodne resurse, kao što su šume i reke. Lateritna ruda tretira
se u rudarstvu i metalurgiji u raznim područjima sveta. U ovom radu bi-
će predstavljeno nekoliko eksploatacionih scenarija preko hidrometa-
lurškog tretiranja: „Direct Nickel Process”, „Murrin Murrin” i „Raven-
sthorpe” u Australiji, i „META Process” u Turskoj.
Ključne reči: nikal, kobalt, lateritne rude, hidrometalurgija, autoklav.
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Paper received on / Дата получения работы / Datum prijema članka: 28. 03. 2016.
Manuscript corrections submitted on / Дата получения исправленной версии работы /
Datum dostavljanja ispravki rukopisa: 27. 05. 2016.
Paper accepted for publishing on / Дата окончательного согласования работы / Datum
konačnog prihvatanja članka za objavljivanje: 28. 05. 2016.
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