Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization

Nickel laterite ore is used to produce nickel metal, predominantly to manufacture stainless steel as well as nickel sulfate, a key ingredient in the batteries that drive electric vehicles. Nickel laterite production is on the rise and surpassing conventional sulfide deposits. The efficiency of minin...

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Autor principal:	Uwe König
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	nickel laterite ore sorting XRD Rietveld cluster analysis Mineralogy QE351-399.2
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6d82f61b43084e81a9288bc6b718aa66
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6d82f61b43084e81a9288bc6b718aa662021-11-25T18:26:00ZNickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization10.3390/min111111782075-163Xhttps://doaj.org/article/6d82f61b43084e81a9288bc6b718aa662021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/11/1178https://doaj.org/toc/2075-163XNickel laterite ore is used to produce nickel metal, predominantly to manufacture stainless steel as well as nickel sulfate, a key ingredient in the batteries that drive electric vehicles. Nickel laterite production is on the rise and surpassing conventional sulfide deposits. The efficiency of mining and processing nickel laterites is defined by their mineralogical composition. Typical profiles of nickel laterites are divided into a saprolite and a laterite horizon. Nickel is mainly concentrated and hosted in a variety of secondary oxides, hydrous Mg silicates and clay minerals like smectite or lizardite in the saprolite horizon, whereas the laterite horizon can host cobalt that could be extracted as a side product. For this case study, 40 samples from both saprolite and laterite horizons were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) in combination with statistical methods such as cluster analysis. Besides the identification of the different mineral phases, the quantitative composition of the samples was also determined with the Rietveld method. Data clustering of the samples was tested and allows a fast and easy separation of the different lithologies and ore grades. Mineralogy also plays a key role during further processing of nickel laterites to nickel metal. XRD was used to monitor the mineralogy of calcine, matte and slag. The value of mineralogical monitoring for grade definition, ore sorting, and processing is explained in the paper.Uwe KönigMDPI AGarticlenickel lateriteore sortingXRDRietveldcluster analysisMineralogyQE351-399.2ENMinerals, Vol 11, Iss 1178, p 1178 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	nickel laterite ore sorting XRD Rietveld cluster analysis Mineralogy QE351-399.2
spellingShingle	nickel laterite ore sorting XRD Rietveld cluster analysis Mineralogy QE351-399.2 Uwe König Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization
description	Nickel laterite ore is used to produce nickel metal, predominantly to manufacture stainless steel as well as nickel sulfate, a key ingredient in the batteries that drive electric vehicles. Nickel laterite production is on the rise and surpassing conventional sulfide deposits. The efficiency of mining and processing nickel laterites is defined by their mineralogical composition. Typical profiles of nickel laterites are divided into a saprolite and a laterite horizon. Nickel is mainly concentrated and hosted in a variety of secondary oxides, hydrous Mg silicates and clay minerals like smectite or lizardite in the saprolite horizon, whereas the laterite horizon can host cobalt that could be extracted as a side product. For this case study, 40 samples from both saprolite and laterite horizons were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) in combination with statistical methods such as cluster analysis. Besides the identification of the different mineral phases, the quantitative composition of the samples was also determined with the Rietveld method. Data clustering of the samples was tested and allows a fast and easy separation of the different lithologies and ore grades. Mineralogy also plays a key role during further processing of nickel laterites to nickel metal. XRD was used to monitor the mineralogy of calcine, matte and slag. The value of mineralogical monitoring for grade definition, ore sorting, and processing is explained in the paper.
format	article
author	Uwe König
author_facet	Uwe König
author_sort	Uwe König
title	Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization
title_short	Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization
title_full	Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization
title_fullStr	Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization
title_full_unstemmed	Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization
title_sort	nickel laterites—mineralogical monitoring for grade definition and process optimization
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6d82f61b43084e81a9288bc6b718aa66
work_keys_str_mv	AT uwekonig nickellateritesmineralogicalmonitoringforgradedefinitionandprocessoptimization
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Nickel Laterites—Mineralogical Monitoring for Grade Definition and Process Optimization

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