A Comprehensive Utilization of Laterite Nickel Ore

Nickel is difficult to be enriched from laterite nickel ore with mineral processing. The traditional processes used for manufacturing nickel need high energy consumption and yield a large amount of metallurgy waste residue. A new method was developed. Nickel and iron was enriched firstly by leaching laterite nickel ore in concentrated alkali solution. In the process, silicon entered to the solution in the form of sodium silicate, and nickel and iron were remained in the residue in form of simple oxides due to the destroying of silicate structure. Ferronickel was obtained by magnetic separation after reducing the residue with carbon. The silicon dioxide was prepared using carbonation decomposition from the leaching solution. The alkali used in the leaching process was recycled and reused using causticizing technology.