Nickel

N.E. Tuffrey

Nickel
• Sulphide ores
– (Ni, Fe) 9S8 pentlandite
– (Ni, Fe) 7S8 nickeliferrous pyrrhotite
• Often occurs with copper sulphide ores
• Ore grade (1 – 3%) upgraded to 12 –
20% by flotation in the absence of
copper (Western Mining) or to a total of
30% Ni + Cu (Canada)
• Smelter matte contains Ni3S2, Cu2S,
FeS

Nickel Smelting - Introduction

Several pyrometallurgical routes used
• Sulphides
– matte smelting similar to Cu
1. Flash smelting followed by converting
2. Roast/electric furnace or blast furnace/converting
• A Ni3S2 matte rather than metallic Ni produced for later
hydrometallurgical processing
• Pyrometallurgical step gives primary iron rejection and allows Ni-
Cu separation
• Ni losses in slag too high to convert to metallic Ni, although it is
possible using oxygen TBRC and other methods
• Smelting nickel mattes an effective way of collecting and
concentration PGM (Rustenburg RSA, Stillwater USA)

• Oxides
– electric furnace smelting from laterite ores (1-3%Ni)
– May produce a sulphide matte or ferro-nickel
– Caron process involves reduction roasting of high iron
limonitic nickel ores to produce metallic Ni, Co, (Fe) for later
leaching

1
 Cu vs Ni Sulphide Smelting
Some similarities to copper smelting
• Smelting and converting stages with similar equipment used in
both Cu and Ni
– Smelt to form a Ni-Fe-S (or Ni-Cu-Fe-S)
– Converting used to remove remainder of Fe and some of the S

• Unlike Cu final product is typically a S deficient matte

– Ni-Cu ~75% (40-70% Ni, 0 -55%Cu), 5 -22% S, <1% Fe
– high Ni deportment to slag especially if smelted to metallic Ni.
– Electric furnace typically included in the circuit for slag cleaning

• Ni smelting temperatures higher (1350 to 1500oC) than for Cu (1250

to 1350o C)
– MgO raises slag viscosity requiring higher temperatures.
– >3-5% MgO in concentrate requires >1500 OC for fluid slag.

Cu vs Ni Sulphide Smelting
• Ni Often found with Cu
– Cu and Ni separated by slow cooling of matte
Cu2S-Ni3S2

• Pyrometallurgical separation of Ni-Co not possible –

matte processed by hydrometallurgical or other
routes

Ni-Fe-S system

2
Effect of MgO on Melting Point

NiO Losses to Slag

• Slag cleaning typically carried-out in an
electric furnace to minimise Ni losses to the
slag
– 0.1 to 1% Ni in slag
• NiO reduced with C
– S (pyrite, phrrohtite) typically added to form Ni
matte (lower melting point than Ni metal)
• Smelting to higher matte grades (lower S)
increases amount of Ni in slag to be reduced
• Converter slag may be returned to smelting
furnace

Activity coefficient of NiO in slag

3
Electric Furnace Smelting

4
Outokumpu Flash Furnaces for Nickel

• Harjavalta, Finland
• Norilsk, Russia
• BCL, Botswana
• Kalgoorlie, Australia

Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter

5
 Flash smelter – Kalgoorlie Nickel

KNS (Western Mining) …

• Started up in 1972
• Electrodes in the furnace enable operation at >1300ºC to
handle the high magnesia-containing concentrates
• Unique in that it combines the flash smelting and electric
furnace in one unit.
- heat supplied by EF helps keep bath under flash smelting
shaft fluid.
• Changed from four burner air to single burner oxygen
operation (Sumitomo Jet flow type burner)
• Matte from furnace sent to converters to produce a sulphur
deficient matte (75%Ni, 18%S, 0.5%Fe)
• Converter matte granulated and sent to Kiwinana for
hydrometallurgical refining.

Ni-Cu Separation
• For mixed Cu-Ni sulphide ores (e.g. Sudbury Basin)
pyrometallurgical route used.
• Sulphur defficient Ni and Cu matte produced containing
~20%S, <1%Fe.
• By slow cooling large grains of Cu2S, Ni3S2 and also a Cu-
Ni metallic phase (pseudo-binary) formed
• Good separation with <0.5%Ni in Cu2S, and <0.5%Cu in
Ni3S2
• Gold and PGM’s go to metallic phase (80%Ni-20%Cu)
• separated by crushing, milling and separation
(magnetic/float).
• Ni2S3 refined
• Cu2S processed to metallic Cu by flash converting (Inco
Copper Cliff)

6
Cu2S-Ni3S2 Pseudo-Binary

7
New Nickel Technology from Outokumpu

Outokumpu
Ni-Cu Separation

Cobalt
• Ni:Co ratio 100:1 Sulphides
10:1 Laterites
• Considerable losses to slag due to low
concentration
• Potential for increased Co recovery by
slag reduction (i.e. Chambishi)
• Co separated from Ni by
hydometallurgical or other routes

8
 Co Distribustion

PGM Recovery
• South African nickel sulphide deposits
contain considerable PGM’s
• Ni concentrates with 100-150 g/t can be
produced (Rustenberg)
• Ni smelted to a Ni-Cu-S matte by
roasting-EF-converting
• Ni-Cu separation by slow cooling
• PGM’s report to metallic fraction
• Matte species pressure leached, PGM’s
report to leach residues

PGM Deportment

9
 Pyrometallurgical Routes for
Laterite Processing

Nickel laterite
• The name laterite (from the Latin, later, ‘a brick’) is
used to describe the weathering product of
ferruginous rock exposed to strongly oxidizing and
leaching conditions, usually in tropical and
subtropical regions. This porous, claylike rock
comprises hydrated oxides of iron, aluminium, etc.
• The ‘oxidized’ ores of nickel constitute by far the
world's largest known reserves of this metal. The
ores include the true laterites (in which the nickel
oxide is intimately associated with limonitic iron
oxide) and the silicate ores which often contain the
mineral garnierite. These oxidized ores are found in
regions of the world where tropical weathering
occurs, or where at least sub-tropical conditions have
prevailed in past geological times.

Laterites
• Laterites – hetrogeneous mixtures of hydrated iron
oxides and hyrous magnesium silicates
• Low concentrates of (0.2-3%) Ni and Co
• Garnerite ores contain 1.8-3.5% Ni suitable for
pyrometallurgical routes
• Ni:Co ratios typically 10:1
• The composition of laterite ores often vary
considerably, and this adds to the difficulty in
processing this material.
• Minor benification/concentration possible but
blending to a uniform feed critical
• Laterites contain 25-40% water. Drying is important
and expensive. Calcining to 1000oC required

10
 Ferro-Nickel Smelting
• Drying and much of the reduction
carried-out in the rotary kiln at 900-
1000oC.
• Calcined ore smelted with coke in
submerged electrode AC Electric
furnaces at 1550oC.
• All Ni and 60-70% Fe reduced to metal
• Crude ferro-nickel refined to remove S,
C, Si, Cr and P.
• A Fe-25%Ni alloy for steel making
typically produced

Laterite – Ferro-nickel Smelting

Nickel laterite …
• The large quantities of dust that are generated in the drying and
calcining steps are unsuitable for smelting in a conventional electric-arc
furnace.
• Normal electric furnaces, operating with a layer (or partial layer) of feed
material on top of the melt, are reportedly difficult to operate with an
SiO2/MgO ratio greater than 2.0, or an iron content of more than 20%
by mass, as these conditions can cause operational instability, mainly
due to a tendency to slag foaming. These compositional problems can
be overcome, to some extent, by blending different ores.
• DC arc furnace technology can be used to provide an economical
process for the smelting of nickel-containing laterite ores and dust, to
produce a crude ferronickel product that could be refined to saleable
ferronickel by conventional techniques.
• Mintek has been working on the production of unrefined ferronickel
from nickel-containing laterite in DC arc furnaces since 1993. In this
process, lateritic material is fed, together with a carbonaceous reducing
agent, to the central region of the molten bath of a cylindrical DC- arc
furnace. This feed material is preferably pre-treated, i.e. hot (calcined),
and optionally pre-reduced.

11
 Nickel laterite smelting
• Conventional process (e.g. Cerro
Matoso, Colombia) uses a rotary kiln
and a very large three-electrode circular
AC furnace
• DC arc furnace allows the feeding of
fine materials, and the accommodation
of a wide range of feed
compositions
• Large DC arc furnace to
be built by Falconbridge
at Koniambo in
New Caledonia

Laterite Matte Smelting

• Inco (Guatemala, Indonesia)
• Process equipment similar to Fe-Ni
process - rotary kiln, electric furnace
• So or pyrite mixed with kiln discharge
• 30-35%Ni, 50-60%Fe, 9-12%S matte
• Iron removed by converting with P-C
convertors or TBRC
• Final matte 78%Ni, 0.5%Fe, 21%S.

Laterite Matte Smelting

12