Innovations in Nickel and Cobalt Hydrometallurgy

摘要

This paper covers the history and implementation of key technologies in nickel and cobalt hydrometallurgy. Breakthrough leaching, purification, separation, concentration and recovery unit operations are considered. The author has humbly chosen illustrative technologies which have innovative drivers. The key driver has been the enhanced separations offered by hydrometallurgy albeit global politics has also played a significant role in the case of Cuban developments. This includes industrial examples such as the Sherritt Gordon Process, the Falconbridge Process, the Roast Reduction Ammoniacal Leach Process, and the High Pressure Acid Leaching Process along with a treatise on the advent of Solvent Extraction separations in these endeavors. To that end, the proposed and imminent Voisey's Bay sulfide concentrate industrial process, relying heavily on modern hydrometallurgical innovations such as continuous pressure oxidation and multiple solvent extraction separations is briefly elucidated.