In this paper, a systematic thermodynamic analysis of carbothermic reduction of saprolitic nickel laterite ore was carried out. Treatment on structure and properties of a cobalt based superalloy pages. Murrin murrin, in western australia, is a classic clay ore nico laterite deposit. Prereduction of laterite is a critical step for all laterite based nickel production processes. It is the sixth mineral resource estimate completed over. The serpentinite massif is covered with a thick weathering mantle consisting of saprolite, limonite, and an allochthonous lateritic surface layer. Inthis study, general knowledge of laterites and nickel production were introduced. The dissolution of laterite and precipitation of iron and aluminum are strongly dependent on the. To meet future demand for nickel, however, there is an increasing proportion of nickel being mined from laterite ores. Production of ferronickel from nickel laterites in a dc. The laterite ores that are amenable to leaching are low in mgo and high in iron, that is, the limonite layer of the ore body. Extraction of nickel, cobalt and iron from laterite ores by mixed. The pressure oxidation of lowgrade nickel sulfide concentrate with high iron sulfides content generates significant amounts of sulfuric acid that must be neutralized. They develop by intensive and prolonged weathering of the underlying parent rock.
In 1950 laterite source nickel formed only a small fraction of the production book is a welcome addition to the metallurgical library and any one involved in the nickel industry must be aware of this book. The united states has no active nickel mines or nickel reserves. Most laterite ore deposits are made up of both limonite iron rich and saprolite layers, with the thickness of each layer varying significantly across different deposits. Creating a giant hole in the ground is generally cheaper than making an underground mine, but it is also less. Experimental setup the prereduction process was typically carried out in an 8kw muffle furnace equipped with a silicon carbide heating element and a pt10wt%rhpt thermocouple for moni. Tests were conducted in a 50 kw furnace with an outside diameter of 600 mm, and a refractory lining thickness of 114 mm. Although one of these, a nickel laterite located near riddle, oreg. Review of specifications for the use of laterite in road. Reduction process of lowgrade nickel laterite agglomerates using. The bulk of the nickel mined comes from two types of ore deposits. Nickel laterite ores account for over 60% of global nickel supply. Pdf nickel laterite processing technologies where to next.
Pdf mapping the chemical composition of nickel laterites with. Soroako laterite deposits are the most important ni resources from indonesia and they have been mined by pt. The great part 58% of the nickel produced is recovered from sulphidic ores, with only 20% in sulphide. According to gleeson and others 2003, dalvi and others 2004, and mudd 2010, laterites contain about 70 percent of world nickel resources, have been mined for more than 100 years, and account for about 40 percent of world nickel production. In northern ireland they once provided a major source of iron and aluminium ores. Tropical weathering laterization is a prolonged process of chemical. This book presents a collection of authoritative papers covering the. Laterite ores also were the early major source of nickel. Topkaya may 2014, 173 pages in this study, pyrometallurgical treatment of limonitic.
The nickel mountain deposit in riddle, oregon is a hydrous mgsilicate type ni laterite, as are the deposits in new caledonia, california, and north carolina. Nickel is then concentrated either in the finegrained laterite where goethite is the main ni bearer, the socalled lateritic ore, or below the laterites, in the saprolite level, where. The present study demonstrates the use of a lowgrade nickel concentrate generated from poseidon nickel mt windarra ore to enable additional. Hydrometallurgy is commonly used to generate pure nickel, while pyrometallurgy is used to produce ferronickel from lateritic nickel ore kyle, 2010. Over the last 60 years magmatic sulfide nickel deposits produced 60% of the worlds nickel. The sulphides typically are found hundreds of metres below ground with principle mineralisation. Composition and origin of lateritic nickel ore at tagaung. They are typically in the range of 20 million tonnes and upwards this being a contained resource of 200,000 tonnes of nickel at 1% with some examples approaching a billion tonnes of material. Uncertainty is an inherent aspect in estimation and mine planning. Other nickelbearing laterites occur in southern oregon and north. Nickel ores that can be mined economically are classified into two general groups.
Lateritic nickel ores need to be reduced to obtain direct reduced iron and nickel alloy. Although nickel laterites make up 70% of the worlds nickel reserves, few of them become producing mines. The dissolution process is coupled to selective thermal hydrolysis of iron and aluminum. Analyse the commodity attractions of the element nickel. Lateritic nickel ore deposits news newspapers books scholar jstor april 20 learn how and when to remove this template message. Independent report on the nickel laterite resource agata north, philippines 20 1 executive summary this ni laterite resource report was prepared at the request of yulo perez, manager of tvi resource development phils inc. These methods help in conservation of energy and earths resources.
Pressure acid leaching of nickel laterite ubc library. The high temperature coprocessing of nickel sulfide and. This acid can be utilized to leach metal values from ores such as nickel laterites. Prices for nickel and all related products have rocketed in china after indonesias ore ban in january, with nickel ore prices soaring by as much as 250% in just 14 weeks. Mineralogy and crystal chemistry of a low grade nickel laterite ore. Metal deposits are mined in a variety of different ways depending on their depth, shape, size, and grade. Laterite is an important resource for the production of nickel. Pdf earth crust of nickel oxide ores is divided in three layers or zones depending on depth. This leads to an important issue in terms of the environmental costs of. Nickelmineralogy and chemical composition of some nickel.
The main kinds oflaterite, limonitic and serpentinic ore, behave differently upon reduction. Our knowledge base of articles on exploration geology and geological methods is written with the nonprofessional in mind. Nico laterite deposits provide one of two major natural sources of nickel and cobalt. The estimated ore resource at bitincke stands at 35.
Sivrihisar nickel laterite ore pournaderi, saeid ph. Certain amount of nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals are produced from recycled end of used scrap. This process offers many advantages such as low energy consumption, low capital cost and high nickel and cobalt recoveries. Perilya controls 60 square kilometers of nickel laterite concessions in the dominican republic. The methods chosen is dependent on the composition of the unique ore source. Ore deposit condition most of nickel is extracted from laterite nickel ores, which consist 60%70% of nickel on earth. The chemical composition of the nickel laterite and coal were shown in tables 1 and 2, it was assumed that all the nickel and iron were existed as nio and fe 2 o 3 individually, and the gaseous product of the reduction reaction was co only. The thickness, nickel content, and physical properties of the ore are very. Pressure acid leaching is an acceptable process for the treatment of nickel laterites. Lateritic ores, formed by the weathering of exposed nickelcontaining rocks, are primarily distributed through tropical latitudes and are recovered by surface mining methods. Nearly all laterites are of rustyred coloration, because of high iron oxide content. Improved beneficiation of nickel and iron from a lowgrade saprolite. The nickel ore occurs in various forms, such as nickel silicate of the remainingprimary crust, and ironnickel ore, redeposited or secondarycrust nickelsilicate crust ore.
They are the product of intensive deep weathering of serpentinites under humid tropical conditions. Relatively large deposits that are quite close to the surface and somewhat regular in shape are mined using openpit mine methods figure 20. Lateritic nickel ores formed by intensive tropical weathering of olivinerich ultramafic rocks such as dunite, peridotite and komatiite and their serpentinized derivatives, serpentinite which consist largely of the magnesium silicate serpentine and contains approx. Until now, the world nickel supply has been predominantly from sulfide deposits. A typical nickel laterite ore bottom surface is uncertain. The recently discovered lateritic nickel ore deposit on the summit area of the tagaung taung contains about 40 million dmt nickelsaprolite ore with approximately 2% ni. Twostage reduction for the preparation of ferronickel. Prnewswire announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue. The validated models were applied to spectral reflectance data acquired on mine bench walls to derive the chemical compositions of lateritic ores. Lateritic nickel ore deposits are surficial, weathered rinds formed on ultramafic rocks. Tropical weathering laterization is a prolonged process of chemical weathering which produces. About 100,000 tonnes of nickel per annum is produced by the leaching of laterite ores. The project was carried out under the aegis of the africa community access programme afcap a dfidfunded research programme that promotes safe and sustainable access for rural.
This kind of ore is formed by the chemical weathering of serpentinite and. Novel process of ferronickel nugget production from nickel. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias. Indonesia is the worlds second largest nickel producer 232 kt pa behind rusia. Typical nickel laterite ore deposits are very large tonnage, lowgrade deposits located close to the surface. This book can be broadly divided into four parts, which is extractive metallurgy ofnickel, cobalt, platinum group of metals, and recycling of these metals. Brindley gw, wan mm 1975 compositions, structures and thermal behavior of nickelcontaining minerals in the lizarditenepouite series. Monument of laterite brickstones at angadipuram, keral. This initial nickel content is strongly enriched in the course of lateritization. Extractive metallurgy of nickel, cobalt and platinum group. Modelling of nickel laterite smelting to ferronickel douglas r swinbourne school of civil, environmental and chemical engineering, rmit university, 124 latrobe street, melbourne 3000, australia. Laterite is a soil and rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. The sulfide ores are typically found deep under the earths surface and are recovered by underground mining. Geochemical principles of lateritic nickel ore formation.
Thermodynamically, the nickel has higher reducibility than iron, which has been confirmed by the previous studies, 11 so the partial. Independent report on the nickel laterite resource at agata north 2 considered the lower bound for nickel laterite ore exploitable via direct shipping ore contracts in the asian refineries with consideration to current and short term forecast nickel prices. Geology for investors make sense of mining company. Nickel ni is a transition element that exhibits a mixture of ferrous and nonferrous metal properties. Ndjigui pd, bilong pcontrasted mineralogical composition of the laterite. Meiblog a team of specialists from various companies and universities trace the extraction and processing of the three metals from ore in. Nickel ore, npi prices spike in china as laterite ore. Two ore types have been mined in the soroako deposits on the basis. Modelling of nickel laterite smelting to ferronickel. Two of perilyas 100%held concessions, c1 and corozal, are located immediately adjacent to the falcondo mining and smelting complex which has a nameplate capacity of approximately 28,000 tonnes of nickel in ferronickel annually. To acquire understanding of ni enrichment from laterite ore, the mineralogy and. The economic importance of this deposit type expands in direct relation with industrialization of developing countries.