Phase transformation in the metallic reduction process of low-grade laterite nickel ores for ferronickel alloy production

The utilization of low-grade laterite ores has become necessary due to the intensive mining of high-grade nickel sulphide ores for a long time. In this study, metallic reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation to produce ferronickel alloy and abandon gangue minerals provides an effectively treatment for laterite ores. The experimental results indicate that ferronickel alloy containing more than 7.5% Ni with its recovery of 95% and more than 70% Fe with its recovery of 90% was produced successfully from the low-grade laterite ore. In the metallic reduction roasting process, the thermodynamic analysis displayed that the higher temperature promotes the conversion percentage of the oxidic nickel and iron to metallic nickel and iron. The ferronickel particle morphology with a liquid-solid growth and aggregation mechanism in the reduced laterite ore were investigated by SEM/EDS. XRD analysis revealed that the nickel laterite ore was transformed from hortonolite (MgO x · FeO 2- x · SiO 2 ) to forsterite (MgO x · CaO y · SiO 2 ) during the metallic reduction process.