INVESTIGATION OF THE RESIN IN MOIST MIX PROCESS FOR THE NICKEL AND COBALT RECOVERY FROM LATERITES

摘要

Nickel laterites represent a large resource for nickel and cobalt worldwide and in Australia in particular. The majority of laterites are characterised by rather low nickel and cobalt content (-1.0% Ni and -0.04% Co). Finding a cost-effective way to recover nickel and cobalt from laterites is a great challenge for the mining industry. This paper outlines the findings of the research conducted in collaboration between InnovEco Australia and the University of South Australia. InnovEco, in partnership with Oryxeio Ingenieria, Chile, has developed the resin in moist mix (RIMM) process for the recovery of valuable metals from various types of minerals based on ion exchange technology. The present research has been devoted to nickel and cobalt recovery from Ni laterites using the RIMM principles. The initial results show that the new RIMM method may provide significant advantages from the point of view of process time and acid consumption in comparison with the traditional technologies such as heap leaching. The research team of the University of South Australia has previously studied nickel and cobalt recovery from different types of Australian laterite ores using the laboratory scale column leaching technique. The influence of ore mineralogy, particle size distribution, agglomerate characteristics and leaching process parameters (e.g. leaching time, acid consumption) have been reported, and it is with this conventional process data with which the present study is compared. This research project has been supported by the Future Industry Institute of the University of South Australia in the form of the Mobility and Infrastructure grants.