Recovery method of lateritic weathered nickel-cobalt ore

The recovery methods of lateritic weathered nickel-cobalt ore mainly include fire method and wet method.

Fire recovery:

The products of lateritic nickel ore beneficiation are magnetite, specularite, limonite and hematite, which can be directly smelted in furnaces, which improves resource utilization. Because the pyrometallurgy process produces a large amount of valuable elements containing nickel and cobalt, most of the nickel and cobalt can be recovered. The fire recovery process is simple and short, and can handle large-scale laterite nickel ore. However, during the fire recovery process, due to the oxidation and burning of minerals and the volatilization of nickel and cobalt, the produced metals will contain relatively high impurities, such as lead, zinc, iron, etc.

Wet recycling:

Wet recovery refers to the leaching of laterite nickel ore under certain conditions to separate it from other metals. Commonly used wet recovery processes include precipitation, solvent extraction, and ion exchange. The wet recovery process is relatively complicated, but it can effectively remove harmful impurities such as lead, zinc, and iron, and improve the recovery rate of metals. During wet recovery, various reducing agents can be used to reduce nickel and cobalt from the leach solution and recover them. The commonly used reducing agents are hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and so on.

No matter which recovery method is used, it is necessary to select appropriate process parameters to achieve the best recovery effect. At the same time, it also needs to be optimized for different minerals and process conditions to achieve a win-win situation of economic and environmental benefits.