Minerals Engineering 191 (2023) 107982

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Minerals Engineering
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A novel method: Nickel and cobalt extraction from citric acid leaching
solution of nickel laterite ores using oxalate precipitation
Widi Astuti a, *, Fajar Nurjaman a, Fika Rofiek Mufakhir a, Slamet Sumardi a, Dira Avista a,
Kevin Cleary Wanta b, Himawan Tri Bayu Murti Petrus c
a
Research Center for Mining Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jl. Ir. Sutami, Km. 15, Tanjung Bintang, South Lampung, Lampung
Province, Indonesia
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, Indonesia
c
Department of Chemical Engineering, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

A B S T R A C T

In this study, an alternative method for recovering nickel and other valuable metals from nickel laterite ores is proposed and evaluated. The proposed method
comprises a leaching step using citric acid to dissolve the nickel and cobalt from Indonesian nickel laterite ores, and subsequently, an oxalate precipitation step to
precipitate the nickel (and cobalt) from citric acid leach filtrate. The results of the leaching experiments showed that nickel (and cobalt) can be dissolved in the
leaching step using 1 M citric acid solution at 80 ◦ C, a pulp density of 100 g/L, and leaching duration of 5 h. The results of the oxalate precipitation experiments
showed that complete precipitation of nickel can be achieved at 80 ◦ C, 500 rpm stirring speed, and precipitation duration of 3 h. This proposed method can produce
Mixed Oxalate Precipitate (MOP) with a purity of 78 %.

1. Introduction
Nickel (Ni) is a metal that is critical to infrastructure and techno­
logical development. Though stainless steel remains the major end use
for nickel (McRae, 2020; Mudd, 2010), nickel demand (as nickel salt
such as nickel sulfate, nickel chloride, and nickel nitrate) for electric
vehicle (EV) batteries is growing fast (McRae, 2020). Nickel resources
are contained mostly in sulfide and laterite ores with lower grade lat­
erites comprising 70 % of global nickel reserves (Dalvi et al., 2004;
Mudd, 2010).
Nickel and cobalt have traditionally been recovered from sulfide and
laterite ores by both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical tech­
niques. Trends over the last 10–15 years have witnessed increased
application of hydrometallurgical technologies for direct treatment of
nickel/cobalt containing feeds. These typically begin with an acid leach,
followed by solution purification steps leading to the production of in­
termediates (hydroxides, sulfides, carbonates), which are further
hydrometallurgically refined as required, or to the production of metal
products by electrowinning. Hydrometallurgical techniques are more
typically applied to limonitic laterites. These techniques include the
Caron process, high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) with sulfuric acid and
atmospheric leaching, e.g., heap leaching with sulfuric acid at atmo­
spheric temperature and pressure. High pressure acid leaching (HPAL)
has been commercialized for higher grade (e.g., >1.2 wt% Ni) of limo­
nitic laterite ores, with Canadian-Cuban HPAL operation at Moa Bay in
operation for more than 60 years (Sudol, 2005; Prasetiyo & Nasution,
2011). However, many recent operations commencing in Western
Australia have suffered setbacks and include the Bulong and Cawse
operations (suspended), Murrin Murrin (previously Anaconda now
Minara, which operates at below name plate capacity), and Rav­
ensthorpe. Heap leaching has not yet been applied commercially at
significant scale. Several pilot projects have been carried out in Çaldağ
(Turkey) and Murrin Murrin (Australia). At best, the heap leach opera­
tion in Murrin Murrin produced ~ 3,000 t Ni per annum (Readett and
Sullivan, 2016; Oxley et al, 2016). Other companies including the
Yunnan Tin Group, CVRD Inco, Mirabela Nickel, European Nickel plc
and Brazilian Nickel Limited have examined heap leaching for the
treatment of laterite materials.
Following leaching, the leachate is neutralized to remove impurities
such as Fe, Al, and Cr, which is then followed by precipitation of a mixed
Ni/Co intermediate, such as mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), mixed
carbonate precipitate (MCP) or mixed sulfide precipitate (MSP), or the
solution is subjected to direct solvent extraction (DSX) or ion-exchange
for the further removal of impurities (such as manganese) and/or the
separation of nickel from cobalt and manganese. Ion-exchange is also
used to remove Cu prior to MHP production, like on the plant at Goro.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: widi005@brin.go.id (W. Astuti).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2022.107982
Received 1 November 2021; Received in revised form 12 December 2022; Accepted 13 December 2022
Available online 20 December 2022
0892-6875/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
W. Astuti et al.
Nickel hydroxide may be produced from acidic nickel sulfate solutions
produced as eluates, strip solutions, or raffinates from solvent extraction
or ion exchange treatment. Nickel hydroxide may be subject to further
processing and, e.g., be transformed into nickel oxide or battery grade
nickel sulfate.
The MHP and MSP intermediate precipitates require further pro­
cessing steps involving re-leaching of the precipitate. The nickel and
cobalt in the leach solution are then separated via SX. In contrast, for the
DSX process, the nickel and cobalt are separated directly from the PLS.
This process, therefore, has the potential to lower the capital and pro­
cessing costs to produce each metal as a separate high purity product
since it circumvents four separate processing units: precipitation, sol­
id–liquid separation, re-leaching, and further solid–liquid separation.
Sulfuric acid is the only commercially used leaching reagent, how­
ever, this acid is highly corrosive and not environmentally friendly. In
addition, the treatment of the leached slurry or pregnant leach solution
(PLS) to neutralize free sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and precipitate ferric iron
[Fe (III)], aluminum (Al) and trivalent chromium [Cr(III)] is also
required with sulfuric acid leaching methods. The removal of these
metallic impurities is critical for downstream recovery and refining of
nickel and cobalt, whether this is via SX (Donegan, 2006; Lanagan and
Ibana, 2003), resin-in-pulp (RIP) (Wassink et al., 2006; Zainol and Nicol,
2009) or the preparation of MHP (Wang et al., 2018; White, 2009). The
pH of the pulp/solution is the primary variable that governs impurity
removal (Wang et al., 2018), and Fe (III), Al and Cr(III) precipitation
generally occurs below the pH at which precipitation of Ni and Co as
their hydroxides occurs, i.e. at or below pH 4. The precipitation of these
impurities from pregnant leach solutions generated from sulfuric
leaching of nickel laterites has received significant attention (Agatzini-
Leonardou et al., 2009; Guise and Castro, 1996; Kose and Topkaya,
2011; Maraboutis and Kontopoulos, 1988; Mbedzi et al., 2017; Okita
et al., 2006; Readett and Sullivan, 2016; Wang et al., 2013; Wang et al.,
2018).
The use of organic leaching reagents such as citric acid has been
investigated to find the alternative reagents for nickel and cobalt re­
covery from laterite ores (Astuti et al, 2015, 2016a, 2016b; Ciftci et al,
2018; Wirawan and Jayanti, 2020; Mohammadreza et al, 2014; Wanta et
al, 2020; Wanta et al, 2022; Yunita and Mubarok, 2021). The use of
organic acids for the dissolution of the metals in nickel laterite ores is an
alternative method that has environmental advantages. The results of
several studies show that citric acid provides good performance and is
not inferior to the use of strong acids as leaching reagents. (McDonald
and Whittington, 2008a, 2008b; Astuti et al, 2015, 2016a, 2016b; Ciftci
et al, 2018; Wirawan and Jayanti, 2020; Mohammadreza et al, 2014;
Wanta et al, 2020; Wanta et al, 2022; Yunita and Mubarok, 2021; Kur­
sunoglu et al, 2018; Tzeferis and Agatzini-Leodardou, 1994). Chaerun et
al (2017) found that organic acid, one of which is citric acid, produced
from Aspergillus niger metabolism could leached both limonite and
saprolite ores in similar nickel leaching efficiencies, i.e., 84.9 % and
88.9 % respectively. However, the downstream processing following
citric acid leaching has not been studied closely. Several studies on
direct extraction of cobalt and nickel from citric acid leach solution has
been conducted using DSX; however, the solvent load in this separation
is still heavy because the concentration of cobalt and nickel in the leach
solution is both small and smaller than the impurities (McKenzie et al,
1987; Ma et al, 2013). The current study aims to investigate a novel
method for recovering mixed nickel and cobalt from citric acid leaching
solutions of laterite ores using direct oxalate precipitation to produce
new intermediate product referred to as mixed-oxalate precipitate
(MOP).
2. Material and methods
2.1. Materials
The nickel laterite ore used was obtained from Halmahera Island,
2
Minerals Engineering 191 (2023) 107982
Table 1
Chemical composition of raw material (Laterite ore from Halmahera).
Element Ni Co Mg Fe Si Mn Cr Al
Content (wt.%) 1.73 0.12 12.3 34.1 3.46 0.99 0.95 1.46
Indonesia. The sample was mineralogically and chemically character­
ized. X-ray fluorescence (XRF; PANalytical Epsilon 3XLE, Netherland)
and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-
OES; PlasmaQuant (PQ) 9100) were used to determine the chemical
compositions of these samples. The mineral phases of the ore samples
were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD; PANalytical X’pert 3 Powder,
Netherland), using CuKα radiation, in the 2θ range 5◦ to 80◦ . The
accelerating voltage and applied current were 40 kV and 40 mA,
respectively, with a scanning speed of 2◦ /min and a scanning step of
0.02◦ . Field emission-scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive
X-ray spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS, Thermoscientific Quarto S) was also
used to determine the elemental contents of the different minerals by
metal mapping.
2.2. Experimental
Analytical-grade citric acid and oxalic acid (Merck) was used to
prepare the leaching reagent and precipitation reagent solutions. At­
mospheric leaching using citric acid solution (1 M) was conducted using
1000 mL flasks at stirring speed of 200 rpm, temperature of 80 ◦ C, pulp
density of 10 % w/v, for 5 h leaching period. After completion of the
leaching process, leach liquor was separated from the residue by filtra­
tion, then the nickel, cobalt, and other metals contents in the filtrate
were analyzed using ICP-OES. Leach filtrate was then directly mixed
with oxalic acid solution to recover nickel and cobalt via oxalate pre­
cipitation. Mixed nickel and cobalt product were recovered via oxalate
precipitation; oxalic acid solution (concentration of 1 M) was added to
the citric acid leach filtrate with ratio of oxalic acid solution to leach
filtrate of 1:1 v/v. Then, the solution was mixed at 500 rpm stirring
speed for 3 h. During mixing, the light-blue MOP was formed, and the
mixing was conducted to ensure all the MOP was formed. All solids that
have been formed are characterized by a constant concentration of so­
lution. On average, about 2 g of MOP was produced from 1 L of leach
filtrate. There was no pH adjustment during precipitation. The precipi­
tate was then separated from the solution using filtration and dried at
60 ◦ C for about 3 h. It was characterized using XRF, XRD, and FESEM-
EDS; the chemical composition of filtrate after oxalate precipitation
was analyzed using ICP-OES.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Nickel laterite ore characteristics
The chemical content of the ore, determined using ICP-OES and XRF
analyses (Table 1), showed that the ore sample has nickel content of
1.73 %. The XRD patterns of the ore are shown in Fig. 1. The XRD
pattern has a high background due to absorption of the X-rays by iron
because the measurements used a Cu X-ray tube. The ore has goethite,
lizardite, and talc as major minerals. The XRD pattern (Fig. 1) shows no
independent peaks for nickel compounds. Information on the nickel-
bearing minerals present is important in studying nickel-leaching
behavior. The FESEM-EDS analysis is a simple method for elemental
mapping and the data can be used to predict the minerals associated
with nickel and other metals. The metal mapping for laterite ore ob­
tained using FESEM-EDS analysis (Fig. 2) shows that the nickel in the ore
is closely associated with iron bearing minerals (goethite) and
magnesium-and silica-containing minerals (lizardite). Based on this data
and the study of Astuti et al (2016b), the ore is categorized as saprolite
ore. It was concluded that nickel in this laterite ore is incorporated in
goethite as well as lizardite.
W. Astuti et al. Minerals Engineering 191 (2023) 107982

T G
G L G GG G G G
G L G GG
L
L T

G: Goethite (FeOOH)
L: Lizardite (Mg3(Si2O5(OH)4)
T: Talc (Mg3Si4O10(OH)2)

Fig. 1. XRD pattern of laterite ore.

Fig. 2. Elemental mapping of laterite ore by FESEM-EDS.

3
W. Astuti et al. Minerals Engineering 191 (2023) 107982

Table 2 aluminum are remaining in the filtrate after oxalate precipitation. The
The composition and pH of the citric acid leach filtrate. pH after oxalate precipitation decreased from 2.6 to 1.6 due to addition
Elements pH of the oxalic acid. Although the pH decreased during oxalate precipi­
Ni Co Mn Fe Mg Al tation, nickel and cobalt could be precipitated using oxalic acid opti­
Concentration (g/L) 1.56 0.042 0.54 1.9 6.9 0.17 2.6 mally. Fig. 5 depict the total process of citric acid leaching and oxalate
precipitation.
This process is advantageous technically, economically, and envi­
ronmentally. The proposed method does not require neutralization prior
Table 3
Metal composition of Mixed Oxalate Precipitate (MOP).
to precipitation of nickel and cobalt product; thus, technically advan­
tageous because the process is faster and simpler and economically ad­
Material Elementals (%)
vantageous because it reduces the cost of alkaline requirements. In
Ni Co Mn Mg Fe
addition, the use of citric acid as leaching reagent and oxalic acid as the
MOP 78.2 2.44 5.98 8.00 2.48 precipitation agent were ecofriendly processes because those acids are
organic acids that can be produced and remediated using microbes.
3.2. Recovery of nickel and cobalt using citric acid leaching and direct- Furthermore, the challenge of precipitation from metallic extract solu­
oxalate precipitation tions is to prevent the desired metal loss or increase in metal impurities
from occurring in the product. In the study conducted by Faris et al.
3.2.1. Citric acid leaching (2021a, 2021b), the loss of the primary metal in the precipitation pro­
The leaching efficiency of nickel was about 90 %. The composition cess occurred. This phenomenon is an important concern when the ox­
and pH of the pregnant leach solution (PLS) are shown in Table 2. alate precipitation process is carried out on the extract solution from this
The use of citric acid as the leaching reagent of nickel laterite ores laterite ore. In addition, the production cost of producing this organic
has been investigated previously (Astuti et al., 2016a). This has been acid is relatively low because it requires low energy and simple equip­
proposed as an alternative method because it is effective for Ni/Co ment. Citric acid will also degrade during the leaching process either due
leaching and environmentally friendly. Apart from being a more envi­ to temperature induced transformation and or the reduction of metals, e.
ronmentally friendly leaching agent, citric acid has a leaching ability g. Co (III), Mn(IV). Leaching and oxalate precipitation must be carried
that is not inferior to strong acids, such as sulfuric acid and hydrochloric out continuously and immediately because if the citric acid leach filtrate
acid. This acid can also be produced through fungal fermentation so that is stored for too long, fungi growth will occur in it because the citric acid
its application is attractive from an economic and energy perspective. and degradation products are easily biodegradable.
Although the purity of MOP is more than 78 %, it is undeniable that
3.2.2. Direct oxalate precipitation there are other metal elements, such as Mg and Mn, which are still
Precipitation of a mixed nickel–cobalt product directly from citric carried in MOP. This metal is carried away because the leaching process
acid leach filtrate using oxalic acid is the main topic of this study. This with citric acid does not provide sufficient selective yield for nickel. It
process is novel for the downstream processing after organic acid, indicates that there is a major challenge in our future studies regarding
particularly citric acid, leaching processes. Table 3 shows that 78 % of increasing the purity of this MOP.
the metal content in MOP was nickel. From Fig. 3, it is seen that nickel in
MOP is in the form of nickel oxalate dihydrate (NiC2O4⋅2H2O). The 4. Conclusions
elemental mapping of MOP was obtained using SEM-EDS (Fig. 4) that
shows nickel, manganese, cobalt, magnesium, aluminum, and iron are The experimental results obtained in this study showed that the
contained in the MOP. proposed method is able to dissolve most (90 %) of the nickel from
Table 2 shows that citric acid leach filtrate contains 1.56 g/L Ni, nickel laterite ore using citric acid leaching and to recover nickel from
0.042 g/L Co, 0.54 g/L Mn, 1.9 g/L Fe, 6.9 g/L Mg, and 0.17 g/L Al with pregnant leached solution directly via oxalate precipitation without
solution pH of 2.6. The filtrate after oxalate precipitation was also prior impurities removal. The product from oxalate precipitation
analyzed using ICP-OES. It was found that Ni and Co contents are not namely Mixed Oxalate Precipitate (MOP) contained a range of metals of
detected in the ICP-OES analysis, Mn and Mg contents decrease slightly, which around 78 % was nickel. The MOP might be further processed to
while Fe and Al contents slightly increase due to the most iron and increase the purification of nickel using re-leaching and solvent

Fig. 3. XRD Pattern of Mixed Oxalate Precipitate (MOP).

4
W. Astuti et al.
Fig. 4. Elemental Mapping of MOP Product using SEM-EDS.
Fig. 5. Overall Process for MOP Production.
extraction or ion-exchange. The combination of simple processes of at­
mospheric citric acid leaching and oxalate precipitation may be an
alternative method for recovering nickel and other valuable metals from
nickel laterite ores.
Contributions
Widi Astuti is main contributor who had the idea, prepared the
proposal to obtain the funding, prepared the experimental designs, co­
ordinated the research project, and wrote this manuscript. Other co-
authors are member contributors who conducted the experimental in
the laboratory, prepared and characterized the raw materials, analyzed
experimental samples, and discussed the manuscript content.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Widi Astuti: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing
– original draft. Fajar Nurjaman: . Fika Rofiek Mufakhir: Methodol­
ogy, Data curation, Writing – review & editing. Slamet Sumardi: . Dira
Avista: . Kevin Cleary Wanta: . Himawan Tri Bayu Murti Petrus:
Data curation.
5
Minerals Engineering 191 (2023) 107982
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge National Research and Innova­
tion Agency (BRIN) for the research facilities and funding.
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