Froth Flotation (Sulphide & Oxide)

Froth Flotation (Sulphide & Oxide)

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Hydro metallurgy of Nickeliferous (1 reply and 1 comment)

M
McDeejs
7 years ago
McDeejs 7 years ago

can i use flotation for a 3wt% nickeliferous ore  and what reagent should i use for the flotation. If flotation is not applicable what hydromet method should i use to get a concentrate of 20% NICKEL... without pyromet

 

David
7 years ago
David 7 years ago
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A friend familiar with this topic tells me:

If nickel in your “3% nickeliferous ore” is present as a sulphide mineral (typically pentlandite), you should be able to get a 20% Ni concentrate (dependant on how much other stuff is in there – Cu, Fe, MgO, etc.) using standard froth flotation:

pH 9.0 – 9.5
PAX
MIBC

You may need an iron depressant such as if you have a lot of iron (typically pyrrhotite) and CMC for MgO depression. At Raglan, they were getting a bulk copper-nickel con grading 17-19%Ni and 3-4%Cu with low iron. Typical feed grade was 2.5-3.0%Ni with 0.5-1.0%Cu. If you remove the copper, you are at more than 20%Ni.

If you are dealing with a laterite ore containing nickel and iron oxides (limonite, saprolite, etc.) then the pressure acid leaching processing route should allow you to get a “mixed sulfides” concentrate with more than 20% nickel. This is hydromet but requires significant infrastructure. Get in touch with people at Sherritt Technologies if you need.

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M
McDeejs
7 years ago

Thank you David, the sulfur content in the ore is very low so presumably am dealing with laterite. So flotation is out of the question now.

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