Chapter 14

Production of Nickel
Concentrates from Sulfide Ores

The first step in extracting nickel and cobalt from sulfide ores is crushing and
grinding. As shown in Figure 13.1, the crushed and ground ore is pumped to
flotation, where sulfide minerals are selectively extracted.
The objective of this chapter is to describe the crushing and grinding of
sulfide ores.

14.1. THE ADVANTAGES OF GRINDING

AND CONCENTRATION
Nickel sulfide ores are always ground and concentrated, as shown in
Figure 13.1. The reasons for this are as follows:
(a) smelting 1%–3% Ni ore is expensive, because it requires excessive
amounts of energy and furnace capacity per tonne of product nickel; and,
(b) technology for the production of sulfide concentrates, particularly flotation
technology, is inexpensive and relatively efficient.

14.2. CRUSHING AND GRINDING

Crushing and grinding (or comminution) prepares ores for concentrate
production by liberating the pentlandite grains from the surrounding rock and
pyrrhotite grains. A schematic diagram of the process flowsheet is shown
Figure 14.1. Other flowsheets may be used, depending on the ore feed and the
history of the operation.
Industrial crushing and grinding data are given in Tables 14.1–14.3.
The size of pieces of blasted ore is mostly smaller than 0.5 m. After
crushing and grinding, most of the ore particles are smaller than 100 mm and
many are less than 50 mm.
There is an optimum particle size for flotation. The effect of grind size on
loss of pentlandite to the flotation tailings for a particular ore is shown in
Figure 14.2. These results indicate that there is a particle size that minimizes
the amount of pentlandite that is lost in tailings.

Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum-Group Metals. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-08-096809-4.10014-0

Copyright Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 159
160 PART | I Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt

broken as-mined ore

1–3% Ni,
~0.5 m diameter

eccentric
gyratory
crusher

~0.2 m

H2O + CaO rotating semi-autogenous

grinding mill

vibrating screen

oversize (>0.01 m)
correct size
<0.01 m
eccentric
cone
crusher
(pebble)

to flotation
<0.02 m
correct size ~50 µm

hydrocyclones
rotating steel
ball grinding oversize > 50 µm
mill

FIGURE 14.1 Flowsheet for preparing small particles for feed to flotation from as-mined ore
pieces. Two stages of crushing and two stages of grinding are shown. The crushing is open circuit,
that is, there is no recycle loop. The two grinding circuits are closed circuit, that is, oversize
material is recycled for re-crushing or re-grinding to specified particle sizes.

There are two reasons for this optimum:

(a) too large a grind size leaves some pentlandite grains combined with or hid-
den in pyrrhotite and rock grains, preventing them from floating; and,
(b) too fine a grind size causes rising bubbles to push very tiny particles aside,
avoiding contact.
In addition, very fine pyrrhotite and rock particles may agglomerate with
pentlandite particles, preventing them from floating.
Chapter | 14 Production of Nickel Concentrates from Sulfide Ores 161

TABLE 14.1 Nickel Concentrator Crushing Details

Thompson, Sudbury, Kambalda,

Concentrator Canada Canada Australia

New ore treated, t/h 400 each crusher Up to 220 Up to 500

each crusher

Crusher type Standard gyratory Standard Svedala 48/36

gyratory single toggle jaw

Number 3 4 1

Size 2 m diameter 2 m diameter 0.9 m jaw, 4 m long

Power rating, kW 220 220

Feed size, nominal 0.15 0.2 0.3

diameter, m

Product size 70% passing 90% passing <0.09 m

through 0.013 m through 0.02 m
screen screen

Product destination To rod milla To rod milla To semi-autogenous

grinding then grinding then grinding mill
ball mill ball mill
grinding grinding

Notably, the Australian concentrator uses a jaw crusher while the Canadian concentrators use gyratory
crushers.
a
Rod mills tumble long steel rods rather than balls (Boldt & Queneau, 1967).

14.3. COMMINUTION STEPS

Comminution is performed in the following three sequential steps:

(a) breaking of in situ ore by explosions in the mine;

(b) crushing of the broken ore by compression in eccentric crushers (refer to
Figure 14.3 and Table 14.1); and,
(c) wet grinding of the crushed ore in rotating mills where abrasion, impact
and compression all contribute to breaking the ore (refer to Figure 14.4
and Tables 14.2 and 14.3).

Separate crushing and grinding steps are necessary because it is not possible to
break ore that is as large as 0.5 m in diameter while at the same time making
particles that are approximately 50 mm in diameter that are required for optimal
flotation.
162 PART | I Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt

TABLE 14.2 Operating Details of Two Semi-Autogenous Grinding Mills and

One Autogenous Grinding Mill

Sudbury, Kambalda, Raglan,

Location Canada Australia Canada

Material treated, Mt/a 0.3 1.5 1.2

Feed and diameter Crushed ore, Contractor crushed As-mined ore

<0.2 m ore, <0.09 m ~0.1 m

Mill type Semi-autogenous Autogenous Semi-autogenous

Number of mills 1 1 1

Diameter  length, m 10  4 85 74

Power rating, kW 8200 2200

Ore plus ball charge 28% of mill

volume

Ball charge, % total 8e10 0 5e6

charge

Initial ball diameter, m 0.13

Ball consumption, 0.5

kg/tonne of ore

Speed, rpm 11 (maximum)

Mill liners Chrome-moly

steel

Product diameter, m <0.003 <0.004

Destination Screen then ball Cyclones then Vibrating screen

mills flash flotation then ball mill

Oversize treatment Recycle to semi- Simons 1.7 m, 250 kWh

autogenous mill 300 kW cone Sandvik cone
crusher crusher

14.3.1. Blasting
Blasting entails drilling holes in mine walls or benches, filling the holes with
chemical explosive and exploding out fragments of rock. The explosions cause
cracks to propagate through the rock, releasing multiple fragments of rock. Burger
et al. (2006) reported that closer drill holes and larger explosive charges make
smaller rock fragments. This decreases subsequent crushing and grinding require-
ments, potentially decreasing cost and increasing concentrator throughput rate.
Chapter | 14 Production of Nickel Concentrates from Sulfide Ores 163

TABLE 14.3 Details of Four Ball Mill Operations That Produce Ground Ore
for Flotation of Pentlandite Concentrate

Thompson, Sudbury, Strathcona, Raglan,

Location Canada Canada Canada Canada
Feed Rod mill Semi-autogenous Rod mill Semi-
product and rod mill products autogenous
products mill product

Rate, t/d per 2500 6000 5000 3500

ball mill (maximum)

Diameter, m 0.003

Slurry density, 76 78
% solids

Number of ball 5 6 2 1
mills

Size, diameter  4  5 4  5.5 4  5.5 4  6.4

length, m

Power rating, 1100 1500 1300 2200

kW

Ball diameter, 0.038 0.051 0.025

m and 0.051 and 0.063

Ball 0.4 0.2 0.3

consumption,
kg/tonne of ore

Mill lining Rubber Rubber Rubber

material

Speed, rpm 16 (70% of 17 (80% of 16 (77% of

critical) critical) critical)

Product size 70% passing 88% passing 55% passing 80% passing
150 mm 250 mm 75 mm 65 mm

Destination Cyclones Cyclones Cyclones Cyclones

(oversize (oversize (oversize (oversize
recycle to recycle to ball recycle to recycle to
ball mills; mills; correct ball mills; ball mills;
correct size to size to flotation) correct size to correct size to
flotation) flotation) flotation)
164 PART | I Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt

FIGURE 14.2 Loss of pentlandite in tailings as a function of flotation tailing particle size
(Kerr et al., 2003). Most of the pentlandite loss is in very large and very small particles. The
graph suggests that this ore might beneficially be ground finer – to eliminate loss of nickel in
the large particle sizes. However, this might produce more very small particles and greater
overall pentlandite loss. Optimum grind size is best determined by well-controlled in-plant
experiments.

FIGURE 14.3 Gyratory crusher for

crushing as-mined ore to ~0.2-m-
diameter pieces. The crushing is done
by compression of ore pieces between
the eccentrically rotating spindle and FEED PLATE
the fixed crusher wall. The crushing
surface on the spindle can be up to
3 m in height. Crushing rates are
5000–15 000 tonnes of ore per day.
BOWL
Source: Drawing from Boldt and
Queneau (1967), courtesy of Vale.

HEAD

ECCENTRIC DRIVE
Chapter | 14 Production of Nickel Concentrates from Sulfide Ores 165

14.3.2. Crushing
Primary crushing can be done in the mine. This permits easy hoisting of ore out
of underground mines. It also permits belt conveying of ore out of open pit
mines and shallow underground mines.
The crushed ore is stored in a small coarse-ore stockpile. It is transferred
from the stockpile by conveyor to the grinding mills. The stockpile permits
steady, controlled flow of ore into the concentrator.

14.3.3. Grinding
The ore from the crushing circuit is fed to the grinding circuit. The purpose of
grinding is to produce particles that are ‘liberated’, that is, small enough to
consist mostly of one mineral, for example, pentlandite, pyrrhotite or gangue
rock. The liberated particles can then be separated by flotation into two
streams:
(a) a nickel-rich concentrate consisting of pentlandite; and,
(b) a nickel-lean waste stream, consisting of pyrrhotite and gangue rock.
Grinding is done wet. The ore slurry is composed of about 70% solids and 30%
water.
The most common grinding mills are either (a) semi-autogenous and autog-
enous mills; or, (b) ball mills. A semi-autogenous mill is shown in Figure 14.4.
Semi-autogenous and autogenous mills have the advantage that they accept
a wide range of feed sizes. Ball mills have the advantage that they deliver finely
ground product to flotation.

14.4. CONTROL OF PARTICLE SIZE

The objective of grinding is to produce ore particles that are small enough for
efficient pentlandite flotation, but not excessively small. Size control is
universally done with hydrocyclones (Krebs, 2010). A hydrocyclone is shown
in Figure 14.5.
The hydrocyclone makes use of the principle that, under a force field, large
particles in an ore–water slurry tend to move faster than small particles. This
principle is put into practice by pumping product slurry from the grinding mill
into hydrocyclones at high speed, for example, at 5–10 m/s. The slurry is
pumped in tangentially, giving it a rotational motion inside the cyclone, as
shown in Figure 14.5. This creates a centrifugal force that accelerates larger ore
particles towards the cyclone wall.
The centrifugal force in the hydrocyclone is such that (i) large particles
move to the wall, where they are dragged out by water flow along the wall and
through the apex; and, (ii) the path of small particles is hindered by larger
particles so that they are forced out through the vortex finder.
166 PART | I Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt

FIGURE 14.4 Semi-autogenous grinding mill. It is a rotating barrel in which ore is broken by
ore pieces (0.2 m diameter) and steel balls (0.1–0.14 m diameter) falling on ore as they are lifted
and fall off the moving circumference of the barrel. Autogenous grinding mills are similar but
without the steel balls. The mills are fed and grind continuously. Their product is typically less
than 0.01 m diameter. Autogenous and semi-autogenous mills are up to 10 m diameter with
diameter-to-length ratios of 1.6:1–2.5:1. They rotate at about 10 rpm and grind 2000–15 000
tonnes of ore per day. Source: Drawing courtesy W. G. Davenport.

The principal parameter for the control of particle size is the water content
of the incoming slurry, which is approximately 50% H2O. An increase in water
content gives less-hindered movement of particles and allows a greater fraction
of input particles to reach the wall and pass through the apex. As a result, the
fraction of particles that are being recycled to re-grinding increases with
increasing water content and ultimately results in a more finely ground product.

14.4.1. Instrumentation and Control

Grinding circuits are extensively instrumented and closely controlled. The
objectives of the controls are to (i) produce ore particles that are correctly sized
for efficient pentlandite flotation; and, (ii) produce these particles with
minimum energy consumption.
The most common strategy is to (i) measure the cyclone overflow using an
on-stream particle size analyzer to ensure that the product is always correctly
Chapter | 14 Production of Nickel Concentrates from Sulfide Ores 167

FIGURE 14.5 Cut-away view of hydrocyclone Fine

showing (i) tangential input of water-ore particle fraction

feed; and, (ii) separation of the feed into fine

particle and coarse particle fractions. The cut
between fine particles and coarse particles is
controlled by adjusting the water content of the
feed mixture. Source: Drawing from Boldt and
Queneau (1967), courtesy of Vale.

Feed
pulp

VORTEX FINDER

APEX VALVE

Coarse
fraction

sized (Outotec, 2010); and, (ii) optimize grinding rate and energy consumption
while maintaining this size.
A typical control system is shown in Figure 14.6. There are two main
control loops. The first is the control of the particle size and the second is the
control of the feed rate to the ball mill.

14.4.2. Control of Particle Size

The particle size loop, shown in Figure 14.6, controls the size of the ground
particles by automatically adjusting the rate at which water is added to the
hydrocyclone feed sump.

14.4.3. Control of Feed Rate to the Ball Mill

The second loop shown in Figure 14.6 adjusts the rate at which the material is
fed to the ball mill by controlling the level in the hydrocyclone sump level.
168 PART | I Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt

50 µm particles
to flotation

particle size
HO HO control loop
S
W W
crushed flotation feed
ore
hydrocyclones
bin O

variable speed oversize

conveyor
ball
mill

cyclone
autogeneous feed
grinding mill
L hydrocyclone variable
mass flow control loop sump speed pump

ore flow water flow electronic control signals

FIGURE 14.6 Control system for grinding mill circuit. The objective is to produce correct-size
ore particles for optimal pentlandite flotation. The circled symbols refer to the sensing devices in
Table 14.4. A circuit usually consists of an autogenous or semi-autogenous grinding mill,
a hydrocyclone feed sump, a hydrocyclone ‘cluster’ (about six cyclones) and two ball mills.
A similar flowsheet is described by Outotec (2010).

If, for example, slurry level sensor (L) detects that the slurry level is rising
(due to tougher1 ore and hence more hydrocyclone recycle), it automatically
slows the ore feed conveyor. This decreases flow rates throughout the plant and
gives the ball mill enough time to adequately grind its input ore particles.
If, the level in the sump falls, the control system automatically increases
feed rate of ore until the sump level is maintained at its set point.

14.5. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The primary development in recent years in the comminution of pentlandite
ores has been almost universal adoption of semi-autogenous grinding. This
technique has proven to be an economic, efficient method of primary grinding.
Other developments have been adoption of high-pressure grinding rolls,
stirred grinding mills and ceramic media grinding, which are used in platinum-
group metal concentrators. High-pressure grinding rolls increase crushing

1. The resistance of an ore to grinding is usually represented by the Bond Work Index, measured in
kilojoules per tonne of ore. High-index ore is difficult to grind: lower index ore is easier to grind.
The definition, measurement and use of Bond Work Index are given by Wills and Napier-Munn
(2008).
Chapter | 14 Production of Nickel Concentrates from Sulfide Ores 169

TABLE 14.4 Sensing and Control Devices for the Grinding Control Circuit
Shown in Figure 14.6

Use in
Sensing Symbol in automatic
instruments Figure 14.6 Purpose Type of device control system

Ore input rate O Senses feed rate of Load cells, Controls ore feed
weightometer ore into grinding conveyor speed rate
circuit

Water flow W Sense water Rotameters Control water-to-

gages addition rates ore ratio in
grinding mill feed

On-stream S Senses a critical Measures Controls water

particle size particle size diffraction of laser addition rate to
analyzer parameter (for beam by particles hydrocyclone
example, percent in an automatically feed (which
minus 70 mm) on taken slurry sample controls recycle
the basis of (Outotec, 2010) and the size of
calibration curves the final grinding
for the specific ore circuit product)

Hydro- L Senses changes Bubble pressure Controls rate of

cyclone feed of slurry level in tubes; electric ore input into
sump level sump contact probes; grinding circuit
indicator ultrasonic echoes; (prevents over-
nuclear beam loading of ball
mills)

throughput with lower energy requirements. Stirred grinding mills with

ceramic pellets give very fine particles of pentlandite that are not contaminated
with iron.
An important new tool for maximizing pentlandite recovery is quantitative
scanning electron microscopy. This technique indicates the makeup of every
particle in a sample. It shows liberated, partially liberated and un-liberated
pentlandite grains for any assemblage of ground ore. The metallurgist can then
determine whether more or less grinding will improve pentlandite recovery.
Quantitative scanning electron microscopy is used extensively in the platinum
extraction industry and is finding increasing use in nickel extraction (Charland
et al., 2006).

14.6. SUMMARY
Pentlandite [(Ni,Fe)9S8] ore is the largest source of nickel as sulfide in the
world.
170 PART | I Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel and Cobalt

As-mined nickel sulfide ores typically contain 3%–8% pentlandite (1%–3%

Ni), remainder being chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite Fe8S9 and gangue rock. These
ores are too dilute in nickel for direct smelting. They would require too much
energy and furnace capacity. They are, therefore, always made into nickel-
enriched (12%–20% Ni) concentrate, mainly by froth flotation, which is
described in Chapter 15.
Efficient isolation of the pentlandite in the ore into nickel-enriched
concentrate requires that the pentlandite grains be liberated, that is, separated
from pyrrhotite and rock grains. This is accomplished by crushing and grinding
the ore to a particle size of approximately 50–100 mm. The pentlandite in this
ground ore is then concentrated using froth flotation. Gyratory crushers and
rotating grinding mills are used, usually with an automatic particle size control
system.

REFERENCES
Boldt, J. R., & Queneau, P. (1967). The winning of nickel. Longmans.
Burger, B., McCaffery, K., McGaffin, I., et al. (2006). Batu Hijau model for throughput forecast,
mining and milling optimization and expansion studies. In S. K. Kawatra (Ed.), Advances in
comminution (pp. 461–479). SME.
Charland, A., Kormos, L., Whittaker, P., et al. (2006). A case study for integrated use of automated
mineralogy in plant optimization: the Falconbridge Montcalm concentrator. In Paper pre-
sented to the Automated Mineralogy Conference; Brisbane: July 17–18, 2006.
Kerr, A., Bouchard, A., Truskoski, J., et al. (2003). The “Mill Redesign Project” at Inco’s Clar-
abelle Mill. CIM Bulletin, 96, 58–66.
Krebs. (2010). Hydrocyclones [Company brochure].
Outotec. (2010). Grinding control solutions [Company brochure].
Wills, B. A., & Napier-Munn, T. J. (2008). Wills’ mineral processing technology (7th ed.).
Elsevier.

SUGGESTED READING
Damjanovic, B., & Goode, J. R. (Eds.), (2000), Canadian milling pratice, Special Vol. 10. CIM.
Fuerstenau, M. C., Jameson, G., & Yoon, R.-H. (Eds.), (2006). Froth flotation, A century of
innovation. SME.
Kawatra, S. K. (Ed.), (2006). Advances in comminution. SME.
Kerr, A. (2002). An overview of recent developments in flotation technology and plant practice for
nickel ores. In A. L. Mular, D. N. Halbe & D. J. Barratt (Eds.), Mineral processing, plant
design, practice and control proceedings, Vol. 1 (pp. 1142–1158). SME.
Malhotra, D., Taylor, P., Spiller, E., & LeVier, M. (Eds.), (2009). Recent advances in mineral
processing plant design. SME.