Extraction of Nickel

Posted on: Mar 20, 2019, · 4 min read.

This paper introduces the extraction of nickel process and characteristics of laterite nickel ore dressing, highlights the nickel ore crushing, washing in the nickel production process design.

1 Description of nickel ore

The laterite nickel ore is complex in composition and can be roughly divided into two types: limonite type and silicon magnesium-nickel type. The main elements are nickel, cobalt and manganese.

The laterite mining method generally uses open-pit mining. The ore body generally does not require rock drilling or blasting. Nickel ore processing plant can directly use the excavator to shovel the ore. The thinner ore layers are first collected by the bulldozer and then shovel.

nickel mining is divide into copper-nickel mining and extraction of nickel from sulphide ore. Below the cover of the Ramu laterite nickel deposit in Papua New Guinea, there are yellow limonite deposits, residual layers, gravel-bearing residual rocks and pure peridotite bedrock; under the Philippines mining Nonoc laterite ore cover are limonite Layer, transition layer, residual ore layer and bedrock; Cameroon red earth cobalt-nickel ore is red soil layer, breccia, iron-aluminum and serpentine bedrock.

In general, the laterite ore mainly contains a gravel layer, and is often accompanied by columnar rock phenomenon with incomplete weathering. Because columnar rocks often have high-grade ore and the blockiness and hardness are relatively large, from the perspective of mineral processing. It is said that it is necessary to use crushing equipment to extract nickel from its ore.

2 The extraction process of nickel

The extraction of nickel process generally consists of crushing, sieving, washing, re-selection, grinding, and slurry concentration, or the nickel leaching method. The target element nickel distribution varies with the nature of the ore, mostly contained in fine-grained grades. For example, the nickel minerals of the Ramu laterite mine in Papua New Guinea are mainly enriched in fine mud of -53 μm. There are uncommon, such as Cameroon cobalt nickel manganese laterite ore, the nickel are mainly concentrated in +0. In the grain size above 3mm, the Philippine BNML nickel ore limonite + ore nickel grade above 50mm 2. 89%, the coarser the grade of ore, the higher the grade of nickel.

3 Crushing equipment of nickel extraction

Laterite nickel ore is often accompanied by a columnar rock with incomplete weathering. The block size may exceed 1m. If you don't crush them, only use the original ore bin to control the ore size. The rock is easily stuck in the sieve hole, affects the normal supply during the nickel extraction process.

Therefore, it is recommended that the laterite mine should be crushed better before washing. Conventional stone crushers such as rotary crusher, jaw crusher, impact crusher, hammer crusher, cone crusher and roller crushers, all have a common disadvantage that they cannot effectively handle materials with high mud content, high water content and high viscosity.

The double roller crusher can effectively overcome the shortcomings of conventional crusher. the working principle of double roller crusher is that the shearing force acts directly on the ore material through the high-torque, low-speed transmission system, so that the force is along the weak and fragile parts of the material. Produces a huge crushing force to break it, forming a unique crushing particle size control technology.

When the crusher is working, the material can be discharged into the upper part of the whole machine. The size of the feed port is larger than that of any crusher, and it is not easy to cause the blockage. The discharge port is also very large, and almost the entire lower part of the equipment can be discharged. product.

The movement of the double-toothed tooth causes the material to be broken and can be forcibly discharged, so it is especially suitable for viscous materials and materials with high water content, and the discharge opening is not blocked. The double-roller screening crusher production plant mainly in British MMD company and Sandvik company.

4 Washing equipment of nickel extraction

The washing equipment used in the nickel mining process mainly includes a gold trommel scrubber, a spiral washing machine and a stirring scrubbing tank.

The Nonoc laterite nickel mine washing system is composed of a cylindrical gold trommel washing machine and two spiral washing machines. The Australian laterite nickel ore is washed by a trommel scrubber.

The specifications of the trommel scrubber are: 5m × 11. 9m for limonite, 4m × 7. 4m is used for residual ore. The grit of the first-stage hydrocyclone of laterite mine is fed into the mixing scrubbing tank and then graded into the second-stage hydrocyclone.

The Papua New Guinea laterite nickel mine adopts a combined washing method of a cylinder washing machine and a spiral washer machine. The gold trommel washing machine has a specification of 3m × 10m, and the tank type washing machine has a specification of LW36′′ × 35'.

Generally speaking, after a section of crushing, the cylinder size of the cylinder is used to feed the ore - 300mm; the size of the log washing machine is - 50mm. For most of the laterite nickel ore, the nickel-cobalt is mainly rich in - In the 3mm grain class, the grain size above +3mm is discarded as waste rock.

For example, 3mm ~ 50mm of laterite mine is recycled by sanding of the log washing machine, and the material of +50mm is thrown through the cylinder of the cylinder washing machine. Waste. But there are also uncommon such as Cameroon cobalt nickel manganese laterite ore, its useful mineral cobalt nickel is mainly rich in + 0. 3mm or more, - 0. In the 3mm range, the slime is mainly thrown away as tailings.

For this ore type laterite nickel ore, the use of cylindrical washing machine and trough washing machine cannot effectively remove - 0. 3mm fine-grain grade slime, this red earth mine washing operation itself does not produce tailings, its purpose is mainly to scrub the ore and the slime, fully stir and de-sludge through a cyclone or hydraulic classification equipment.

However, the washing and washing equipment may consider the use of the stirring scrubbing tank, but the washing condition of the stirring scrubbing tank and the energy consumption of the stirring should be fully considered according to the stirring scrubbing test.

Extraction of nickel

research has a very positive effect on the nickel mining process, extraction of manganese, extraction tin and other mining minerals. Nickel laterite processing is always upgrading. JXSC provides a full of nickel ore mining equipment for nickel mining companies around the world, contact us to know the mining use stone crusher machine price, washing plant price and so on.