The process includes sizing the ore where necessary, forming pellets by contacting ore with a concentrated sulfuric acid lixiviant and agglomerating. This type of product can be further treated in caron process andor atmospheric acid leaching to produce separate pure nickel and cobalt. Growing worldwide interest in the application of heap leaching technology to nickel laterite ores heralds a need to explore compatible nickel recovery flowsheets. Leaching processes key advantages of sulphuric acid for leaching laterites include. The growth of heap leaching is heavily tied to the massive scale on which mines are being built, with some sites requiring huge investments. More than one third of the worlds nickel is nowadays produced from laterite ores bergmann, 2003, pp.
A largescale trial heap leach operation was started in late 2004, with a 4,200tonne heap of nickel ore grading 1. This means that laterite ores typically require substantially more energy and chemicals to produce than sulfide. Developments in hydromet processing of nickel laterites october 2016 efforts to develop lower cost and simpler hydromet alternatives to pressure acid leaching pal for laterites are being made by a number of organizations. Leaching behaviour of a turkish lateritic ore in the. Jun 28, 2016 this feature is not available right now. Niwest prefeasibility study delivers outstanding results. Establishing nickel laterite agglomerate structure and. Ep1790739b1 process for extraction of nickel, cobalt. The niwest nickel laterite project located at murrin murrin in the north eastern goldfields of western australia, has the potential to become a significant longterm, lowcost nickel producer through the development of heap leaching. Nickel laterite heap leaching is a destructive process and as such the most suitable method of heap leaching is via a dynamic onoff pad. Nickel laterites are no different, every major and several junior nickel miners have evaluated nickel laterite heap leaching over the past decade and shown projects to have robust economics, with. Initial 27year operating life at a nameplate processing capacity of 2.
The development of nickel laterite heap leach projects rev 0. Selective leaching of nickel from prereduced limonitic. On the surface, heap leaching of a nickel laterite would not appear to be attractive owing to the low permeability of most nickel laterite ores, coupled with the expected high acid consumption and long. The kinetics and mechanism of leaching of the key minerals are. The plant used feed from pt antams buli nickel mine in indonesia, where direct nickel is considering building a 10,00020,000 ty commercialscale plant. It is well known that proper agglomeration can prevent solution channeling and ponding, improve percolation within the heap and increase metal recovery rates. Valuable chalcopyrite copper, previously not considered economical in heap leach development, is now heap leached, as is nickel laterite, uranium, and even rare earths. The nickel grade in pregnant solutions ps reached 120 mgl and nickel was extracted in the form of nickel cathode. Heap leaching of nickel laterites a challenge and an. Projected steadystate nickel and cobalt recoveries of 79% and 85% respectively. During this reaction time, the used acid reacts with the minerals. Crushed ore agglomeration has been used and is considered as a pretreatment step to improve heap leaching performance of complex copper and gold ores.
In the present work, precipitation behaviour of nickel hydroxide from artificial and pregnant leach solution of indonesian nickel laterite ore is discussed. Heap leaching base metals from laterite ores download pdf info. Heap leaching is a tried and tested mining technique enabling the processing of different kinds of ores which could not otherwise be exploited under viable economic conditions. Us20070209481a1 process for extraction of nickel, cobalt. Leaching is the most widely used process for extraction of nickel metal from lateritic ores. Comparison of nickel heap leaching using sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid in laboratory scale. Heap leach treatment of nickel laterites is primarily applicable to claypoor oxiderich ore types where clay contents are low enough to allow percolation of acid through the heap. Indeed, most new nickel projects are investigating heap leaching as an option for at least a portion of the production. Wo2001075184a2 heap leaching of nickel containing ore. The international nickel study group insg nickel heap leaching study report available now published in 2010, this is a 72page comprehensive analysis of heap leaching in nickel production. Laterites account for two thirds of the worlds nickel resources. Due to the requirements of the various processing methods and the wide range of chemical and mineralogical composition of the laterite profile, the processes are best suited to only a.
Selected processing route of heap leaching followed by highly efficient direct solvent extraction dsx to produce lowcost nickel and cobalt sulphate products. Purification pregnant leachate, returned raffinate, loaded organics including activated carbon and various solvents are just some of the pump applications. Atmospheric leaching of nickel from limonitic laterite ores is regarded as a promising approach for nickel production, despite its low nickel recovery and slower leaching rate than high pressure. Developments and trends in hydrometallurgical processing of nickel laterites, boyd willis, alta. It is the best known and most widely applied leaching reagent in the mining and metallurgical industry. The sivrihisar limonitic nickel laterite ore was found to be readily leachable. James gillaspie, kamoto copper company kcc drc inverse leaching process for nickel laterite ores 68. Laterites are still a very much a frontier of nickel process development. The process is particularly effective for ores that have a tangible clay component i. Recent advancements in extractantsreagents have allowed solvent extraction sx to significantly improve upon the separation of cobalt from nickel. The pellets are formed into a heap and leached with a. Heap leaching is a very slow process, where the acid is spread dropwise on a heap, slowly pouring to the bottom. A process is provided for heap leaching ore to recover nickel.
Estrazione di nichel dalle riserve di laterite result in. The leaching solution contained 200 gl h2so4 while no recycling was involved. Heap leaching for silver is conducted using the same principles and operating practices as for gold, but heap leach operations produce only a small fraction of world silver production. It has the advantages of high nickel and cobalt recoveries and is applicable to a wide range of ores. Disclaimer forward looking statement the material used in this presentation is intended to be a summary of selected. Hard metal designs are routinely used for red mud waste disposal from bauxite leaching. The rise of nickel laterites and advances in sulphide processing. Canada atmospheric leaching of nickel laterites with iron precipitation 48 david white, independent consultant australia. Alta metbytes developments in hydromet processing of. Heap leaching had become a fairly sophisticated practice at least 500 years ago. Designing heap leaching for nickel production that. Laboratory plexiglas columns with a diameter of 5 cm and height of 50 cm were used. Laterites still a frontier of nickel process development. Other than nickel, the dissolution ratio values of cobalt, iron, magnesium.
Column leaching of greek lowgrade limonitic laterites. Over 1 million tonnes of ore have been economically treated at murrin murrin in australia as part of an integrated nickel laterite operation. A geometallurgical proxy for nickel laterite heap leaching. Column leach tests were conducted to evaluate the amenability of poor greek nickel laterites to heap leaching with dilute sulphuric acid at ambient temperature. The pellets mechanical strength was found to be a good indication of their stability under leaching conditions as well. Alta metbytes developments in hydromet processing of nickel. Heap leaching of poor nickel laterites by sulphuric acid at. High pressure sulphuric acid leaching of lateritic nickel ore 477 leaching time on high pressure sulphuric acid leaching of a local lateritic nickel ore sample having 1. The broad success of heap leaching of other metals has allowed hitherto uneconomic deposits to undergo. The leaching solutions and the process parameters considered are presented in table1. Brn is focused on nickel and cobalt production within brazil in the near term applying the best technology with a strong team of industry professionals.
The ore tested was limonitic laterite with less than 1% nickel and it was subjected to a suitable pretreatment with water prior to it being loaded into columns, following findings of. They account for 73% of the continental world nickel resources and will be in the future the dominant source for the mining of nickel. Heap leaching nickel and cobalt abstract with the majority of nickel naturally occurring in laterite ores but the majority of production still in sulphides, it is high time there was a standalone commercial nickel laterite heap leach operation. The present invention embodies a process for extraction of nickel, cobalt, and other metals from laterite ores by heap leaching, and of the product obtained as well, characterized by the fact that it is comprised of crushing i, agglomeration ii, stacking iii, and heap leaching iv stages, with this last stage being a continuous, countercurrent, heap leaching system with two or more. With saprolitic nickel laterite sap pellets, their mechanical strength and rewetting stability can be enhanced by drying the wet pellets or by increasing the binder content in the pellets. Extraction of nickel from lateritic ores at atmospheric. To meet future demand for nickel, however, there is an increasing proportion of nickel being mined from laterite ores. Atmospheric heapleaching to solve nickel laterite processing.
As of the report, irrigation with an acid solution was successfully leaching the nickel. Al and heap leaching hl are being practiced or are under intensive investigation for many possible new projects. Mar 15, 2016 nickel laterite heap leaching is simple and flexible, and can be applied to the many laterite deposits that currently have no realistic path to production. Generally, this route of production is much cheaper up to half the cost of production due to the lack of need to heat and pressurise. Based on the comparison of the pls nickel ion concentration from the first step of the research and residual of hydrochloric acid in post heap leaching laterite soil is harmful to plants 11, the second step of this research was. Aug 02, 2018 selected processing route of heap leaching followed by highly efficient direct solvent extraction dsx to produce lowcost nickel and cobalt sulphate products. In this study, nickel extraction from manisagordes region laterites by. Heap leaching targets nickel from laterite chemical. Producing robust agglomerates with desirable structural properties is key to the success of the heap leaching of complex, lowgrade nickel ni laterite ores.
Commissioned by insg and produced by malachite consulting of australia provides up to date information on all aspects of heap leaching. Feasibility study for nickel heap leaching canadian mining. European nickel plc original assignee european nickel plc priority date the priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Mechanical strength and rewetting stability of nickel. To extract high amounts of nickel and cobalt from the laterite matrix. Nickel grades in ps in laboratory column tests reached 5002,000 mgl. Characteristics of nickel laterite crushed ore agglomerates. Modern day heap leaching, which has a relatively low level of energy consumption, is for example. This alternative option to heap leaching was investigated at laboratory scale in the present study. Further yuanjiang in china is a small standalone nickel heap leach which commenced production in 2007, and has until the end of 2014 produced approximately 10,000 tonnes of nickel contained in product. The process includes sizing the ore where necessary, forming pellets by contacting ore with a lixiviant and agglomerating. It is therefore likely that increasing amounts of nickel will be produced from laterites.
Heap leaching is a promising, less costly, alternative technology for processing low grade nickel ni laterite ores compared with traditional, energy intensive processes e. However, the process does suffer from significant waste disposal issues. Heap leaching of limonite ore typically yields low recoveries. Depending on the ore mineralogy, extractions of 1098% for ni and 1297% for co were obtained after 120 days of leaching. Nickel heap leaching brazilian nickel limited nickel.
Smaller scale developments are being actively pursued based on atmospheric leaching al or heap leaching hl technologies. The image shown here illustrates a generalized nickel sxew process with heap leaching and agglomeration click image to view larger. The pellets are formed into a heap and leached with sulfuric acid to extract the. The development of nickel laterite heap leach projects by ml steemson, phd, rpeq and me smith, pe vector engineering inc. Conclusions heap leach hl lowest capital costs nickel alta 2,000,000t commercially hld at murrin murrin 100,000t demonstrated by various groups incl enk, cmsa, vale. The bed consisted of g laterite bed height 40 cm and two layers of 2 cm of silica sand placed at both ends of each column to act as.
Establishing nickel laterite agglomerate structure and properties for enhanced heap leaching. Lateritic nickel ore deposits are surficial, weathered rinds formed on ultramafic rocks. Similar to in situ mining, heap leach mining differs in that it places ore on a. Similar to in situ mining, heap leach mining differs in that it places ore on a liner, then adds the chemicals via drip systems to the. Heap leaching is an industrial mining process used to extract precious metals, copper, uranium, and other compounds from ore using a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and reseparate them after their division from other earth materials. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to. However, low recoveries, lengthy leaching times, high acid consumption, nonselective leaching, decommissioning challenges, and. Wo2001075184a2 heap leaching of nickel containing ore with. Nickel laterite heap leaching is simple and flexible, and can be applied to the many laterite deposits that currently have no realistic path to production. Spent ore is simply removed as per other operational heap leaches and disposed of in the residue disposal area, in a nickel laterite heap leach most often it is codisposed with the iron filter cake.
Superiadi had some remarks about the following heap leaching processes superiadi, 2008, pp. Precipitation of nickel hydroxide from simulated and. To minimise the cost and time required to obtain relevant information for nickel laterite heap leaching, we have developed a smallscale hydrogeometallurgical laboratory test to serve as a proxy to column, and by inference, heap leaching. Nickel ore processing trends the rise of nickel laterites and advances in sulphide processing. The rise of nickel laterites and advances in sulphide. Heap leaching of poor nickel laterites by sulphuric acid. This leads to an important issue in terms of the environmental costs of nickel as laterite nickel increases, the. This was crushed and agglomerated, and stacked on a multilayered plastic liner. At least 5 projects in various stages of study 100ktpa cmsa demo plant. Nickel laterite moving forwardmoving forward amec national mining congress 22 may 2008 mathew longworth heron resources limited asx. Us6312500b1 heap leaching of nickel containing ore. Nickel heap leaching study international nickel study group.
1431 940 692 207 73 1298 1505 63 1325 419 196 177 516 200 2 792 100 438 709 1437 1003 559 431 496 557 1108 50 1269 233 718 53 680 715 484 354 1136 627 477 14 1278 92 472 1493 819