US20110283831A1 - Process for the Recovery of Nickel and/or Cobalt from a Leach Solution - Google Patents

Process for the Recovery of Nickel and/or Cobalt from a Leach Solution Download PDF

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Publication number
US20110283831A1
US20110283831A1 US12/991,858 US99185809A US2011283831A1 US 20110283831 A1 US20110283831 A1 US 20110283831A1 US 99185809 A US99185809 A US 99185809A US 2011283831 A1 US2011283831 A1 US 2011283831A1
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nickel
cobalt
cementate
process according
particles
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US12/991,858
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Eric Girvan Roche
David White
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BHP Billiton SSM Development Pty Ltd
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BHP Billiton SSM Development Pty Ltd
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Priority claimed from AU2008903155A external-priority patent/AU2008903155A0/en
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Assigned to BHP BILLITON SSM DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD. reassignment BHP BILLITON SSM DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: ROCHE, ERIC GIRVAN, WHITE, DAVID
Publication of US20110283831A1 publication Critical patent/US20110283831A1/en
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B23/00—Obtaining nickel or cobalt
    • C22B23/04—Obtaining nickel or cobalt by wet processes
    • C22B23/0453—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching
    • C22B23/0461—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by chemical methods
    • C22B23/0469—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by chemical methods by chemical substitution, e.g. by cementation
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B23/00—Obtaining nickel or cobalt
    • C22B23/04—Obtaining nickel or cobalt by wet processes
    • C22B23/0407—Leaching processes
    • C22B23/0415—Leaching processes with acids or salt solutions except ammonium salts solutions
    • C22B23/043—Sulfurated acids or salts thereof
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
    • C22B3/00—Extraction of metal compounds from ores or concentrates by wet processes
    • C22B3/20—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching
    • C22B3/44—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by chemical processes
    • C22B3/46—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by chemical processes by substitution, e.g. by cementation
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P10/00—Technologies related to metal processing
    • Y02P10/20—Recycling

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to a process for the recovery of nickel and/or cobalt from a leach solution.
  • the present invention provides an improved hydrometallurgical method of recovering nickel and/or cobalt from a pregnant leach solution (PLS) from a leaching process of a nickel and/or cobalt containing ore using a cementation process and it will be convenient to hereinafter disclose the invention in relation to that exemplary application.
  • PLS pregnant leach solution
  • the invention is not limited to that application and could be used to recover nickel and/or cobalt from any nickel and/or cobalt ion containing solution.
  • Laterite nickel containing ore deposits generally contain oxidic type ores, limonites, and silicate type ores, saprolites, in the same deposits.
  • the higher nickel content saprolites tend to be treated by a pyrometallurgical process involving roasting and electrical smelting techniques to produce ferro nickel.
  • the lower nickel content limonite and limonite/saprolite blends are normally commercially treated by a combination of pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes, such as the High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) process, Caron reduction roast-ammonium carbonate leach process, atmospheric pressure agitation acid leach processes and heap leaching process.
  • HPAL High Pressure Acid Leach
  • Nickel containing sulfide ore deposits are commercially treated in a number of ways.
  • One such way is to produce a flotation concentrate, from which the nickel content is then oxidatively leached.
  • Other processes such as smelting to matte followed by leaching, or direct heap leaching of the ore itself, also produce a nickel containing solution.
  • a leach solution containing nickel salts and cobalt salts, is produced which is then passed to a processing plant where the metal nickel is recovered.
  • nickel and cobalt is recovered from the PLS using methods such as precipitation as a sulphide or mixed hydroxide, treatment by solvent extraction, ion exchange processes, hydrogen reduction or other known metallurgical processing routes to extract and separate the nickel and cobalt.
  • United Kingdom Patent No. GB1311294 provides an alternative process for obtaining nickel metal in the form of a composite metal powder.
  • a cementation process is proposed in which a salt solution containing nickel ions is added in a mixing vessel with an aluminium metallic powder or a paste of aluminium metal consisting of particles with a dimension lower than 40 microns. The solution is agitated until the grains of the metallic aluminium powder are completely replaced by nickel metal. No industrial application for this process is described.
  • the present invention aims to provide an alternate method of recovering nickel and/or cobalt from a leachate solution or a solution containing nickel and/or cobalt ions generally.
  • a process for the recovery of nickel and/or cobalt from a nickel and/or cobalt containing solution comprising:
  • Cementation is a heterogeneous process in which ions are reduced to zero valence at a solid metallic interface.
  • the process allows powders to be obtained directly from metallic salt solutions containing said metals.
  • a salt solution of a metal A for example a nickel and/or cobalt salt
  • a metal B which is more electronegative than metal A
  • the solution will contain either only grains of metal A in the case where the grains of metal B initially introduced in the solution of metal A are very small.
  • composite grains including a central core of metal B and an exterior layer of metal A may be produced.
  • the cementation process according to the present invention can be used to extract nickel and/or cobalt metal from any type of nickel and/or cobalt ion containing solution.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt ion or salt containing solution will generally be a pregnant leach solution (PLS) from a process of leaching nickel and/or cobalt bearing ores.
  • PLS pregnant leach solution
  • a nickel and/or cobalt containing PLS will result from a leaching process applied to a nickel and/or cobalt containing ore such as nickel and/or cobalt bearing laterite and/or sulfide ores.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt containing PLS is obtained from a leaching process applied to a nickel and/or cobalt containing laterite ore. In another embodiment, the nickel and/or cobalt containing PLS is obtained from a leaching process applied to a nickel and/or cobalt containing sulphide ore. As indicated in the background, several types of leaching process are known for extracting nickel and/or cobalt from nickel and/or cobalt containing ores. It is intended that the present invention could be used with any of these leaching processes.
  • the leaching process which is applied to a nickel and/or cobalt containing laterite ore and which provides a nickel and/or cobalt containing PLS for the process of the present invention, could be obtained from at least one of a High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) process, Caron reduction roast-ammonium carbonate leach process, atmospheric pressure agitation acid leach processes and heap leaching.
  • HPAL High Pressure Acid Leach
  • the leaching process which is applied to a nickel and/or cobalt sulfide containing material and which provides a nickel and/or cobalt containing PLS for the process of the present invention, could be obtain by leaching of the nickel and/or cobalt sulfide containing material by oxidative pressure leaching, atmospheric leaching or heap leaching.
  • this can entail the step of contacting the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution with metallic particles being conducted is a suitable process vessel including a mixing device or agitator.
  • the step of contacting the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution with metallic particles is conducted in a fluidised bed of the metallic particles.
  • the process further includes the step of fluidising the fluidised bed of metallic particles using a generally upwardly directed flow of the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution. Generally, this would entail the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution being fed into a fluidisation chamber of a process vessel into a bed of metallic particles from a location substantially underneath the bed of metallic particles.
  • the metallic particles can comprise any suitable metal that is more electronegative than nickel and/or cobalt.
  • the applicant has found that the process of the present invention advantageously works when the metallic particles include aluminium metal. More preferably, the metallic particles comprise aluminium metal. Aluminium metal has the advantage of having a low density, making this metal suitable for fluidising in a fluidising column as is desirable in one form of the present invention. Furthermore, with the aluminium-nickel cementation system and the aluminium-cobalt cementation system, only a small amount, by weight, of aluminium is required compared to nickel and/or cobalt to obtain a good yield of nickel and/or cobalt.
  • the chemistry for the nickel reaction is:
  • the above cementation reactions (1) and (2) can be allowed to run to completion to completely replace the aluminium with nickel and/or cobalt or could be controlled to permit only partial cementation of the metallic particles.
  • partial cementation it is meant the incomplete replacement of the grains of the metallic powder by nickel and/or cobalt from the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution.
  • the cementation process is partially completed to the point that composite grains are produced including a central core of the metal of the metallic particles and only a thin layer of nickel and/or cobalt cementate.
  • this thin surface layer of nickel and/or cobalt cementate can then be broken, sheared or otherwise separated from the central core of the metallic particles.
  • both nickel and cobalt cementation reactions (1) and (2) respectively
  • both nickel metal and cobalt metal can replace the metallic grains on the metallic particle. This can result in a mixed nickel-cobalt cementate product.
  • this extent of the cementation reaction can be controlled by selectively controlling at least one parameters of the process including (but not limited to) at least one of the flow rate of nickel and/or cobalt containing solution being fed through the metallic particles, the residence time of the metallic particles in the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution, the pH of the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution and the particle size distribution of the metallic particles.
  • the particle size distribution of the metallic particles is selected to permit only partial cementation of the metallic particles.
  • aluminium powder may be usefully used to cement nickel and/or cobalt from a nickel and/or cobalt containing process solution produced by the means described.
  • the conditions may be chosen so that a large proportion of the aluminium is consumed during the cementation process, and a large yield of a highly concentrated nickel and/or cobalt containing cementate is obtained.
  • the process of the present invention uses a larger sized particle for the cementation reaction.
  • the metallic particles are in the form of pellets.
  • the metallic particles have an average particle size of between 0.1 mm and 25 mm. More preferably, the metallic particles have an average particle size of between 5 mm and 15 mm.
  • the step of separating the nickel and/or cobalt cementate from the metallic particles includes separation on the basis of size.
  • the form of the cementation reagent may be chosen by size to allow a substantial portion of small nickel and/or cobalt cementate particles to be separated from the cementation reagent particles.
  • this separation step includes the step of passing the mixed particles through a screen which has a mesh size chosen to substantially pass the nickel and/or cobalt cementate particles, and to substantially retain the cementation reagent particles.
  • this separation step includes the step of fluidising the mixture of particles in a fluidisation chamber and adjusting the fluidisation velocity to cause larger cementation reagent particles to be retained and the smaller nickel and/or cobalt cementate particles to be swept out of the fluidisation chamber.
  • a fluidisation vessel for contacting the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution with the metallic particles.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution is fed into the fluidisable bed of metallic particles so as to enable a cementation process to occur between the nickel and/or cobalt in a solution and the metallic particles to produce a nickel and/or cobalt cementate.
  • the fluidisation vessel can be any suitable process vessel in which a fluidisation stage can be located.
  • the fluidisation vessel is a vertical fluidisation column having at least one fluidisation stage.
  • the metallic particles are comprised of aluminium pellets with an average particle size of between 5 mm and 15 mm.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution In order to enable the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution to cause a bed of aluminium pellets to fluidise, it is preferred for the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution to be fed into the fluidisation vessel from a location underneath the bed of aluminium pellets so as to fluidise the pellets.
  • the fluidised bed it is preferable for the fluidised bed to be configured to allow the aluminium pellets in the fluidised bed to have a degree of agitation to promote separation of the nickel and/or cobalt cementate from the surface of the pellets.
  • This partial cementation process can aid in the recovery of the resulting nickel and/or cobalt cementate because the resulting nickel and/or cobalt cementate has a much smaller particle size to the unreacted central core of the aluminium pellets thereby allowing filtering processes to substantially separate the aluminium pellets and nickel and/or cobalt cementate from an outflow from a process vessel in which the cementation reaction occurred.
  • the fluidisation vessel it is preferred for the fluidisation vessel to further include a screen, sized to allow a substantial portion of the nickel and/or cobalt cementate to pass, and to substantially retain the metallic particles.
  • the screen is located before the outlet of the fluidisation vessel.
  • the fluidisation vessel may include a section of larger cross sectional area, which allows the velocity of the solution to fall below the fluidisation velocity of the aluminium pellets, but not below the fluidisation velocity of the smaller nickel and/or cobalt cementate particles, such that the nickel and/or cobalt cementate particles are swept out from the fluidisation vessel and the aluminium pellets fall back into the vessel.
  • the pH of the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution is preferably adjusted to allow maximum yield of nickel and/or cobalt cementate from solution, whilst minimising the consumption of aluminium by the unwanted side reaction of aluminium reacting with hydrogen ions to produce hydrogen gas.
  • the pH of the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution may be chosen such that aluminium which is dissolved from the pellets is not hydrolysed and precipitated from solution.
  • the pH may be chosen to maximise the reactivity of the aluminium metal surface, for example by removing the naturally occurring layer of oxide from the surface.
  • the pH may be adjusted or maintained in the range from 0 to 4.5. More preferably, the pH may be adjusted or maintained in the range of 2 to 3.5.
  • the process of the present invention further includes the step of:
  • process of the present invention can further include the step of:
  • the process of the present invention can include the step of:
  • the aluminium hydroxide particles may be removed by leaching using a suitable leaching lixiviant.
  • a convenient leaching lixiviant is an alkaline reagent such as a sodium hydroxide solution.
  • cobalt may be recovered from the solution by cementation at the same time as nickel is recovered by cementation.
  • the metallic particles is preferably selected to be more electronegative than nickel and cobalt thereby enabling a cementation process to occur between the nickel and cobalt in the leachate and the metallic particles to produce a nickel cementate and a cobalt cementate or a combined nickel/cobalt cementate where separation cannot be maintained.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt cementate can then be separated from the metallic particles thereby producing a slurry that includes a cementate having a nickel content and a cobalt content.
  • the cobalt content of the PLS could be removed prior to conducting the cementation reaction. This would allow for a nickel cementate product to be produced substantially free of cobalt.
  • the nickel content of the PLS could be removed prior to conducting the cementation reaction. This would allow for a cobalt cementate product to be produced substantially free of nickel.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt containing cementate produced from certain embodiments of the present invention is highly suitable for direct conversion to an alloy, for example by melting in a furnace.
  • the present invention can further include the steps of:
  • the nickel content of the cementate is formed into briquettes (preferably after enrichment steps on the slurry) and added to the feed of a furnace, where the nickel and/or cobalt is rendered molten.
  • heating in the furnace separates impurities from the nickel cementate briquette such as any residual aluminium in the material.
  • the residual aluminium in the cementate serves a valuable purpose by displacing the need for a separate aluminium addition.
  • the cementate briquette is subject to melting in an electric furnace.
  • the nickel cementate is formed into briquettes and these briquettes are introduce into a container, crucible or furnace which contains molten alloy substantially comprising iron and nickel (also known as “ferronickel”).
  • nickel is leached from ore, cemented by means of aluminium metal, the cementate briquetted, and the briquettes added to molten ferronickel.
  • FIG. 1 is a flowsheet illustrating a process for the recovery of nickel and cobalt from a nickel and cobalt containing ore according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a fluidised bed column according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 shows a flowsheet of a process for the recovery of nickel and cobalt from a nickel and cobalt containing ore according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • the process utilises a cementation process to recover a nickel and cobalt metal content from a nickel and cobalt containing pregnant leach solution (PLS) which is then melted in an electric furnace to produce a nickel melt suitable for casting.
  • PLS pregnant leach solution
  • a laterite nickel and cobalt containing ore is subject to a leaching process step using a sulfuric acid solution.
  • the leaching process could be for example at least one of a High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) process, Caron reduction roast-ammonium carbonate leach process, atmospheric pressure agitation acid leach processes and heap leaching.
  • HPAL High Pressure Acid Leach
  • Caron reduction roast-ammonium carbonate leach process Caron reduction roast-ammonium carbonate leach process
  • atmospheric pressure agitation acid leach processes and heap leaching.
  • the illustrated process relates to a laterite nickel containing ore, it should be appreciated that a similar process as set out in FIG. 1 could be used for a nickel containing sulphide ore, concentrate, matte or intermediate.
  • the leaching process step shown in FIG. 1 could be for example at least one of oxidative pressure leaching, atmospheric leaching or heap leaching.
  • a nickel ion and cobalt ion containing PLS is produced from the process in process stream, which is then subject to a solid, liquid separation step such as filtration or similar to separate the spent ore from the PLS solution.
  • the PLS solution is then passed through a purification stage in which impurities such as iron and aluminium are removed.
  • impurities such as iron and aluminium are removed.
  • One such suitable purification stage is an ion exchange process such as the process disclosed in International Patent Publication No. WO/2006/029443 in the name of BHP Billiton SSM Technology Pty Ltd.
  • various impurities can be removed through the addition of extractors such as limestone, ammonium carbonate or similar. Impurities such as iron and aluminium are discarded in a waste stream and a purified nickel ion and cobalt ion containing PLS is produced.
  • the cobalt may be separated from the purified PLS to produce a cobalt product and a substantially cobalt free nickel containing solution. This can be achieved using separation processes such as ion exchange, selective precipitation or other suitable selective extractive processes such as solvent extraction by the phosphinic acid Cyanex 272.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt containing solution is thence subjected to cementation.
  • the cementation stage can be conducted in any suitable process vessel including a mixing device, agitator or other solid-liquid mixing means.
  • One preferred embodiment of the cementation process vessel is a fluidised column shown in FIG. 2 . This form of the cementation process vessel will be explained in more detail in relation to this Figure later in the specification.
  • the cementation process vessel is used to contact the purified nickel ion and cobalt ion containing solution with aluminium metal particles. In this respect, aluminium metal pellets or aluminium metal powder is fed or otherwise placed into the cementation process vessel.
  • cementation process vessel a cementation process is allowed to occur between the nickel and cobalt in the PLS and the aluminium metal particles to produce mixture of nickel and/or cobalt cementate and unprocessed and unreacted reagent aluminium particles.
  • the cementation reaction can therefore result in cementate particles including nickel, cobalt or a combined nickel/cobalt content where separation cannot be maintained.
  • a separation stage is used to separate the unprocessed and unreacted aluminium particles from the desired nickel and/or cobalt cementate product.
  • the separation stage can be separate from the cementation process vessel in which the cementation reaction takes place, or could be an integral part of this process vessel.
  • the separation stage can include a screen, which has a mesh size chosen to substantially pass the nickel cementate particles, and to substantially retain the cementation reagent particles or another process.
  • the unprocessed and unreacted (spent) aluminium particles or pellets can be recycled back into the cementation process vessel for use in a further cementation reaction.
  • the nickel and/or cobalt cementate product exits the separation stage as a slurry of solid nickel and/or cobalt cementate mixed with a solution of aluminium sulfate and other PLS impurities such as magnesium sulfate and manganese sulfate.
  • This slurry is processed through one or more solid/liquid stages such as magnetic separation, washing, thickening and/or filtering processes to substantially remove excess solution from the nickel and/or cobalt cementate product.
  • the resulting nickel and/or cobalt containing cementate product may then be sent to market. Alternatively, it may then be formed into briquettes which are fed into a furnace to produce a nickel and/or cobalt rich melt. The melt can then be processed in a suitable casting process to produce a cast nickel and/or cobalt product.
  • the separation of cobalt from the nickel in the previously described optional cobalt separation process allows the production of nickel briquettes substantially free of cobalt.
  • the nickel cementate briquettes can be introduced into a container, crucible or furnace which contains a molten ferronickel alloy.
  • the resulting ferronickel melt can then be processed in a suitable casting process to produce a cast ferronickel alloy product.
  • the cobalt content of the PLS can be extracted from solution prior to the cementation stage using extractive processes such as selective precipitation, solvent extraction such as Cyanex 272 SX, or similar to provide a nickel-rich solution for the cementation reaction. Cementation of this nickel-rich solution would produce a nickel rich slurry which could be subsequently fed to a furnace to produce a nickel melt for casting.
  • FIG. 2 shows a vertical fluidised bed column 10 which can be used to conduct a cementation reaction for the recovery of nickel from a nickel containing solution in a nickel recovery process according to the present invention.
  • the vertical fluidised bed column 10 can be used for the Ni/Co cementation step shown in FIG. 1 .
  • the illustrated fluidised bed column 10 includes a single fluidised bed stage 12 containing aluminium metal pellets.
  • the particle size distribution of the aluminium metal pellets is selected so as to permit only partial cementation of the aluminium metal pellets. Accordingly, the aluminium metal pellets have an average particle size of between 5 mm and 15 mm.
  • a nickel containing solution is fed into the fluidisable bed 12 of aluminium metal pellets so as to enable a cementation process to occur between the nickel ions and cobalt ions in the PLS and the aluminium metal pellets to produce a cementate having a nickel metal and cobalt metal content.
  • the PLS is fed into the fluidised bed column 10 from an inlet 14 underneath the fluidisable bed 12 of aluminium metal pellets so as to fluidise the aluminium metal pellets.
  • the fluidisation agitates the aluminium metal pellets in the bed 12 causing the formed nickel and/or cobalt cementate to break, shear or otherwise separate the resulting nickel and/or cobalt cementate from an unreacted central core of the aluminium metallic pellets.
  • the pH of the nickel containing solution is adjusted or maintained in the range of 2 to 3.5 prior to the solution being fed into the fluidised bed column 10 to allow maximum yield of nickel cementate from solution, whilst minimising the consumption of aluminium from the pellets by the unwanted side reaction of aluminium reacting with hydrogen ions to produce hydrogen gas.
  • This pH also substantially prevents aluminium dissolved from the pellets from being hydrolysed and precipitated from solution.
  • the column may be operated at other pH ranges as are compatible with the application, for example pH 3.5-6 in an acid leaching process or pH 7.5-10 in the Caron ammoniacal process. In these alternatives some contamination of the product by aluminium hydroxide might result, desirably requiring a removal process, such as alkaline leaching or magnetic separation.
  • the illustrated fluidisation column 10 also has a mesh screen 16 located before the outlet 18 of the fluidisation column 10 .
  • the mesh screen 16 is sized to allow a substantial portion of the nickel and/or cobalt cementate to pass to the product outlet 18 and to substantially retain the aluminium metal pellets within the fluidisation column 10 .
  • the outflow from the outlet 18 is in the form of a slurry containing a nickel and cobalt containing cementate which can then be treated by other concentration and/or thickening processes.
  • the fluidisation column 10 can also include a section of larger cross sectional area, which allows the velocity of the solution to fall below the fluidisation velocity of the aluminium pellets, but not below the fluidisation velocity of the smaller nickel cementate particles. The nickel and cobalt cementate particles are therefore swept out from the fluidisation column 10 and the aluminium pellets fall back into the fluidisation column 10 .
  • the present invention provides an alternative process for the recovery of nickel and/or cobalt from solutions, for example a pregnant leach solution produced by leaching nickel and/or cobalt containing materials.
  • the advantages of the present invention are several.
  • One advantage is the production of a higher grade nickel and/or cobalt containing material than may be produced by other recovery processes that use precipitation reagents such as sulfide ions or hydroxide ions.
  • the resulting cementate from the process of the present invention can contain more nickel by weight and by volume than other similar intermediate nickel and/or cobalt containing products formed using conventional recovery processes, and therefore can be less costly to transport.
  • a further advantage of the present invention is that the cementate from the process of the present invention is readily able to be settled and filtered, and therefore is more easily handled than similar materials formed using conventional recovery processes such as sulfide precipitates.
  • Another advantage of those forms of the present invention that use aluminium pellets is that aluminium pellets may be safely and conveniently transported, handled and stored, and thus the process of the present invention is particularly suitable for remotely located operations and mine sites.

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US12/991,858 2008-06-20 2009-06-22 Process for the Recovery of Nickel and/or Cobalt from a Leach Solution Abandoned US20110283831A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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AU2008903155 2008-06-20
AU2008903155A AU2008903155A0 (en) 2008-06-20 Process for the Recovery of Nickel and/or Cobalt from a Leach Solution
PCT/AU2009/000798 WO2009152587A1 (en) 2008-06-20 2009-06-22 Process for the recovery of nickel and/or cobalt from a leach solution

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EP (1) EP2294234A1 (zh)
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AU (1) AU2009260131A1 (zh)
CO (1) CO6351815A2 (zh)
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CN102066592A (zh) 2011-05-18

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