Process for separation of nickel from cobalt in ocean floor manganiferous deposits and product thereof

摘要

Nickel is separated from cobalt in ocean floor magniferous deposits by breaking up such ore, differentially leaching the manganese phase including the nickel from the iron phase including the cobalt, then removing and processing the manganese phase to remove the nickel and separately processing the solid iron phase to obtain the cobalt. A slight excess of sulphur dioxide or nitrogen dioxide is percolated through the agitated aqueous slurry of crushed ore, which may have been subject to reduction roasting, until a solution having a maximum concentration of manganese, nickel (and copper) and a minimum of iron and cobalt as rolls is obtained. The pH of the slurry is controlled solely by the reaction between the gases, the water and the dissolving elements and is 7 while manganese, nickel and associated elements are dissolving. The Ni can be recovered from solution by precipitation and separation of Cu with H2S, followed by precipitation of Ni with hydrogen gas or the Mn can be separated by differential thermal reduction. The Co is recovered by standard acid leaching of the dewatered, filtered and washed solid tails. The process may be carried out batchwise or continuously.