Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Conference

2 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y E v e n t

Proceedings

Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Conference

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PROCEEDINGS OF ALTA 2015 NICKEL-COBALT-COPPER SESSIONS

25-27 May 2015 Perth, Australia

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Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Contents

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CONFERENCE KEYNOTE ADDRESS 1

HPAL IN PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 2

Dr Naoyuki Tsuchida, Senior Managing Executive Officer, General Manager of Engineering Division, Sumitomo Metal Mining Corporation (Japan)

20TH

ANNIVERSARY DINNER KEYNOTE ADDRESS 10

ALTA: 20 YEARS AS A WINDOW INTO THE WORLD OF PAL 11

Alan Taylor, ALTA Metallurgical Services (Australia)

LATERITES 23

TECHNICAL & COST COMPARISON OF LATERITE TREATMENT PROCESSES - PART 3 24

Mike Dry, Arithmetek Inc. (Canada)

ATMOSPHERIC LEACHING OF NICKEL LATERITES WITH IRON PRECIPITATION 48

David White, Independent Consultant (Australia); James Gillaspie, Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) (DRC)

INVERSE LEACHING PROCESS FOR NICKEL LATERITE ORES 68

Kaixi Jiang, Sanping Liu, Haibei Wang , Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (BGRIMM) (China)

AN ATMOSPHERIC DISSOLVING PROCESS FOR LATERITES 79

Jussi Rastas, Pekka Saikkonen, Promeca Consulting Ltd (Finland); Lars Snåre, OMG Ltd (Finland); Esa Lindell, Eduard Jääskeläinen, Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta Ltd (Finland)

ENVIRONMENTAL / SAFETY 94

A COMPARATIVE STUDY FOR NICKEL AND COPPER PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

95

Janelle Khoo, Sankar Bhattacharya, Monash University, Department of Chemical Engineering (Australia); Nawshad Haque, CSIRO Mineral Resources Flagship (Australia)

IMPLICATIONS OF THE PRESENCE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN COPPER CONCENTRATES 103

Adrian Manis, Bob Ring, ANSTO Minerals (Australia)

PROCESS DEVELOPMENT 116

ADVANCES IN NON-FERROUS PYROMETALLURGY 117

Michael Walton, RefMet (Australia)

CAN FARMING NICKEL PAY FOR YOUR TESTWORK AND FEASIBILITY STUDIES? 126

Boyd Willis, Boyd Willis Hydromet Consulting (Australia)

FLOWSHEET OPTIONS FOR TREATMENT OF DIFFICULT NICKEL RESIDUES 139

Brett Muller, Simulus Engineers (Australia)

VERSATIC 10 ACID/NICKSYN™ SYNERGISTIC SYSTEM VERSUS D2EHPA-CYANEX 272 FOR THE RECOVERY OF COBALT (DRA and Mintek acknowledges ISEC)

150

S.J. Archer, V. Coetzee, J. Scheepers, DRA (South Africa); A.C. du Preez, M. H. Kotze, Lanxess (South Africa); Presented by Roxanne Mottay, Mintek (South Africa)

SUCCESSFULLY SUPPLYING NF AND RO MEMBRANES TO A METAL CYANIDE LEACH TO SEPARATE THE BASE METALS FROM THE PRECIOUS METALS AND RECOVER THE FREE CYANIDE

160

Nicholas Conradie, Nanoretech Systems (Pty) Ltd, South Africa

ALKALINE GLYCINE SYSTEMS AS ALTERNATIVE LEACHING REAGENTS FOR COPPER DEPOSITS OF COMPLEX MINERALOGY

168

Jacques Eksteen, Elsayed Oraby, Bennson Tanda, Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University (Australia)

SX PROCESSES 190

SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF NICKEL - 28 YEARS OF ENDEAVOUR 191

Murdoch Mackenzie, Consultant (Australia)

A NEW SOLVENT EXTRACTION APPROACH TO NICKEL LATERITE LEACH SOLUTIONS 212

Zhaowu Zhu, Yoko Pranolo, Chu Yong Cheng, CSIRO Mineral Resources National Research Flagship (Australia)



SX PROCESSES (CONT.)

DIRECT SOLVENT EXTRACTION FOR THE RECOVERY OF NICKEL AND COBALT FROM NITRIC ACID NICKEL LATERITE LEACH LIQUORS

224

Michael Hutton-Ashkenny, WA School of Mines, Curtin University, Direct Nickel, CSIRO (Australia); Don Ibana, WA School of Mines, Curtin University (Australia); Keith R Barnard, CSIRO Minerals Resources National Research Flagship (Australia)

NEW SYNERGISTIC SOLVENT EXTRACTION SYSTEMS FOR SEPARATION AND RECOVERY OF NICKEL, COBALT, COPPER AND ZINC IN SULPHURIC ACID, NITRIC ACID AND HYDROCHLORIC ACID LEACH SOLUTIONS

239

Wensheng Zhang, Nicholas Kelly, CSIRO Mineral Resources Flagship (Australia)

RECOVERY OF BASE METALS FROM CONCENTRATED CHLORIDE SOLUTIONS VIA SOLVENT EXTRACTION

253

Bryn Harris, Carl White, Neomet Technologies Inc., (Canada)

43 YEARS OF ESCAID™ DILUENTS USE IN SOLVENT EXTRACTION (SX) 265

Daniel Bien, ExxonMobil Chemical Asia Pacific (Singapore)

SX FIRE PROTECTION 272

USING PRINCIPLES OF INHERENT SAFETY FOR DESIGN OF HYDROMETALLURGICAL SOLVENT EXTRACTION PLANTS

273

Larry J Moore, FM Global (USA)

COPPER SX/EW 286

TURNING WASTE INTO VALUE: CENTRAL ASIA METALS’ KOUNRAD PROJECT – THE FIRST THREE YEARS

287

H.M. Nicholson, Central Asia Metals (UK); Aung Moe, D. Kan, N.Shirley, Kounrad Copper Company (Kazakhstan); Phil A Crane, PC Mets (Australia)

THE SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMBINED LEACH - ION EXCHANGE - SOLVENT EXTRACTION - ELECTROWINNING PROCESS AT THE BUCIM COPPER PROJECT

299

Todor Angelov, Georgi Savov, Aleksander Tsekov, Iontech 2000 JSC (Bulgaria); Ivan Nishkov, University of Mining and Geology “St. Ivan Rilski” (Bulgaria)

A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ORGANIC QUALITY IN COPPER SOLVENT EXTRACTION 307

Peter Cole, Louwrens Thomas, Cytec Industries Inc (Canada); Rodrigo Zambra, Cytec Chile Limitada (Chile); Troy Bednarski, Matthew Soderstrom ,Cytec Industries, Inc (USA)

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR COPPER RECOVERY FROM AMMONIA LEACH SOLUTIONS

322

Alexander Tsekov, Todor Angelov, Georgi Savov, Iontech 2000 JSC (Bulgaria); Bas Nauts, Attero (The Netherlands)

SULPHIDE PRECIPITATION FOR COPPER RECOVERY FROM LEACHING CIRCUITS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SX-EW: THE DRIVERS

330

Hermann Scriba, Independent Metallurgical Consultant (Australia)

BIOLEACHING 345

THE APPLICATION PROSPECTIVE ON METAL MINERAL REINFORCED BIOLEACHING WITH HYPER THERMOPHILIC ARCHAEA

346

Zhaihai Zhang, Kunming Linhai Microbial Engineering Co. Ltd, Beijing Extract Metallurgy & Technology Development Co., Ltd (China); Weiwen Yang, Jiaoyong Yang, Shanglong Zang, Beijing Extract Metallurgy & Technology Development Co., Ltd (China)

BIOHEAP® APPLICATION AT COSMIC BOY NICKEL CONCENTRATOR – AN UPDATE 356

Jason Fewings, Shawn Seet, Tim McCredden, Craig Fitzmaurice, BioHeap Ltd (Australia)

THE MONDO MINERALS NICKEL SULFIDE BIOLEACH PROJECT: FROM TEST WORK TO DESIGN 373

John Neale, Mariekie Gericke, Christoph Pawlik, Mintek (South Africa); Pieter van Aswegen, P Met Consulting (South Africa); Stephen Barnett, Consultant (UK); Janne Seppälä, Mondo Minerals Nickel Oy (Finland)

PRESSURE OXIDATION 397

LEACHING BEHAVIOR OF NI/CO MIXED SULFIDE BY USING PRESSURIZED OXIDATION 398

Shinichi Heguri, Satoshi Asano, Atsushi Idegami, Sumitomo Metal Mining Corporation (Japan)

TACKLING IMPURITIES IN COPPER CONCENTRATES 406

Henry Salomon-de-Friedberg, Tom Robinson, TECK Resources Limited (Canada)



PAL FORUM 416

INCREASED PLANT AVAILABILITY THROUGH IMPROVED LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT OF AGITATED SYSTEMS

417

Siegfried Popp, Jochen Jung, Wolfgang Keller, EKATO RMT (Germany)

DEFINING SEVERE SERVICE VALVES FOR MINERAL PROCESSING 430

Ross Waters, CG Industrial Specialties Ltd. (CGIS) (Canada)

CURRENT PLANT OPERATION OF CORAL BAY NICKEL CORPORATION 437

Laurence G. Salanga, Takao Oishi, Toru Kitazaki, Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC) (Philippines)

GÖRDES NICKEL COBALT HPAL PROJECT IN TURKEY 450

M.Mete Yesil, A.Safder Iplikcioglu, META Nikel Kobalt A.S. (Turkey); Presented by Yavus Topkaya, META Nikel Kobalt A.S. (Turkey)

RAMU NICKEL MINING PROJECT IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA 465

Peter Jolly, Highlands Pacific Limited (Australia)

ENGINEERING DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF THE HPAL PLANT AT TAGANITO 473

Yoji Kyoda, Takehiko Ito, Yasumasa Hattori, Taganito HPAL Nickel Corporation (Philippines); Fumio Mizuno, Sumitomo Metal Mining Corporation. (Japan)

NOT PRESENTED 488

GME’S NIWEST NICKEL PROJECT – ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF NI LATERITE HEAP LEACH, SX-EW PROCESS

489

David Readett, Mworx Pty Ltd; Jamie Sullivan, GME Resources Ltd (Australia)

Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Proceedings

Conference Keynote Address

ALTA 2015 Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Proceedings 1

HPAL IN PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

By

Dr Naoyuki Tsuchida

Director Senior Managing Executive Officer

Sumitomo Metal Mining Corporation, Japan

Presenter and Corresponding Author

Naoyuki Tsuchida

ABSTRACT

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (SMM) has commissioned two HPAL projects in the Philippines. Both of the plants successfully produce Mixed Sulfide (MS) of nickel and cobalt from low grade lateritic ore and the annual production of nickel is 54,000 tons in the Philippines. Three Australian laterite projects were commissioned in late 1990’s. Those projects suffered from low availability of the plant and low recovery of nickel in the ramp up stage. The first challenge of SMM was the Coral Bay Nickel Project which commenced in 2002. The project achieved the first track record to reach the name plate capacity. SMM proved operational reliability of HPAL by the CBNC project. However, we have never terminated our challenge to establish the most competitive HPAL plant in the world. The second challenge of SMM was the Taganito HPAL project, located on Mindanao Island, Philippines. As compared with the CBNC project, the project possesses disadvantages of “Wet Weather” and lower grade ore containing nickel at less than 1.1 %. The plant is designed to produce 30,000 tons of nickel and 2,600 tons of cobalt as MS. Construction of the THPAL plant commenced in 2010 and the plant was mechanically completed in June 2013. The plant has attained name plate capacity since May 2014 with excellent performance in terms of nickel recovery and plant availability. Following the success of the Taganito project, pilot studies have been conducted at CBNC and THPAL aiming at further advancement in the future. Those studies include recovery of chromite, hematite and scandium from the laterite ore. SMM believes those technologies are contributing to the development of lower grade lateritic nickel resources.

Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Keynote



20th Anniversary Dinner Keynote Address


ALTA: 20 YEARS AS A WINDOW INTO THE WORLD OF PAL

By

Alan Taylor

Managing Director ALTA Metallurgical Services, Australia


Alan Taylor

20th Anniversary Dinner Keynote



Laterites


TECHNICAL & COST COMPARISON OF LATERITE TREATMENT PROCESSES PART 3

By

Mike Dry

Arithmetek Inc., Canada


Mike Dry

ABSTRACT

This is the third paper in a series examining the economics of processing a hypothetical nickel-cobalt laterite using commercially applied processes and two processes that are still under development. Part 1 of this series outlined the processes examined and their applicability to limonite and saprolite. Part 2 presented the results of process modelling done to quantify reagent and utility requirements and to calculate the variable portion of the operating costs. Part 3 extends the comparison to the fixed operating and capital costs and uses simple financial modelling to compare the different processes.

The established hydrometallurgical processes examined in this exercise are:

• Pressure acid leaching;• Enhanced pressure acid leaching;• Agitated tank leaching at atmospheric pressure;• Heap leaching;• Caron reduction roast, ammonia leach.

The pyrometallurgical processes examined are:

• Rotary kiln calcination with electric furnace smelting;• Sintering with blast furnace smelting;• Sintering with submerged arc smelting.

The two developing technologies examined are:

• Neomet;• Direct Nickel (DNi).

The hydrometallurgical processes and the developing processes were assumed to produce nickel and cobalt as intermediate products (mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide or oxide, and cobalt sulphide in the Caron process). The pyrometallurgical processes were assumed to produce nickel in metallic iron, i.e. ferronickel or nickel pig iron.

Pressure acid leaching appears to offer the best economics for treating the limonite if the Neomet and DNi processes do not produce saleable by-products. If the by-product hematite and magnesia turn out to be saleable, particularly if the hematite can be sold for more than the price of iron ore, the Neomet and DNi processes look distinctly superior.

Of the established processes for saprolite, heap leaching would appear to offer the best economics, but if the by-products are saleable Neomet offers better economics for processing saprolite.

The pyrometallurgical processes appear to be economically inferior to the hydrometallurgical processes.


ATMOSPHERIC LEACHING OF NICKEL LATERITES WITH IRON PRECIPITATION

By

1David T White and 2James D Gillaspie

1Consultant, Australia 2Kamoto Copper Company, DRC


David White

ABSTRACT

Alkali addition for iron precipitation, associated with sulphuric acid leaching of nickel laterites, has been considered periodically since the early 1970s, shortly after the development of the jarosite process for iron control in zinc refining.

In the late 1990’s a series of flowsheets were proposed and tested involving simultaneous atmospheric leaching, iron precipitation and acid regeneration. These were considered particularly suited to sequential leaching of limonite and saprolite ores. A number of laterite sulphuric acid leaching processes utilising this chemistry have been put into commercial operation.

In another parallel to the zinc industry, similar sequential leaching flowsheets involving precipitation of iron as goethite were also developed and piloted.


INVERSE LEACHING PROCESS FOR NICKEL LATERITE ORES

By

Kaixi Jiang, Sanping Liu and Haibei Wang

Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (BGRIMM), China


Kaixi Jiang

ABSTRACT

High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) with high metal recovery and low acid consumption has commonly been used to treat nickel limonite laterite while Atmospheric Tank Leaching (ATL) with low CAPEX and OPEX has preferably been used to treat nickel saprolite laterite. However, HPAL’s CAPEX is as high as 25 USD/lb-Ni due to the high temperature and pressure and ATL suffers high acid consumption due to dissolution of iron into solution. How to treat nickel laterite with both low CAPEX and OPEX is the most important issue for the extractive metallurgists. BGRIMM has developed an inverse leaching process for nickel laterite starting with a primary ATL stage and followed by a secondary autoclave leaching stage. The sulfuric acid together with limonite slurry was introduced into the ATL stage. This stage aimed to leach as much Ni as possible. The effects of initial pulp concentration of the feed, acid dosage and residence time on the recovery of nickel were examined. The primary leaching results showed that as much as 98% Ni could be leached under the conditions of 33% solid density, 1 ton acid/ton ore, residence time of 5 hours and temperatures of 95~100°C. The leaching of Ni in the primary leaching was predominantly accompanied by the dissolution of Fe and Mg.

Subsequently, the leached slurry from the primary leaching with the saprolite ores was introduced into the secondary autoclave leaching. The secondary leaching stage accomplished the precipitation of ferric ions and simultaneously the acid was generated to leach more nickel. At the leaching conditions of 150°C, 0.5 MPa and 2h retention time, the secondary autoclave leaching gained more than 93% nickel extraction and the leaching solution contained only 1.75 g/L Fe. The inverse leaching process is very flexible to treat a wide proportion of limonite to saprolite laterite ores with high Ni and Co extraction. A bankable feasibility study results indicated that the CAPEX and OPEX were less than 10 USD/lb-Ni and 2.6 USD/lb-Ni, respectively, just accounting for 40% of the HPAL’s CAPEX and 65~70% of the ATL’s OPEX. The process consumes at least 290 kg acid/t-ore less than the ATL and its nickel extraction reached more than 92%, at least 10% higher than ATL.


AN ATMOSPHERIC DISSOLVING PROCESS FOR LATERITES

By 1Jussi Rastas, 1Pekka Saikkonen, 2Lars Snåre, 3Esa Lindell and 3Eduard Jääskeläinen

1Promeca Consulting Ltd, Finland 2OMG Ltd, Finland

3Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta Ltd, Finland


Pekka Saikkonen

ABSTRACT

A 2-stage atmospheric recovery process for various types of laterites is described, where most of the material is recycled/recovered. Method includes a two-step counter current process, whereby, in the first step laterite is leached into solution with sulphur dioxide used as the leaching agent along with sulphuric acid containing liquid phase coming from the second step. Sulphur dioxide reduces iron, manganese, and cobalt originally contained the laterite and trivalent iron coming from the second step to bivalent soluble sulphates. Yields of the valuable metals in this stage for fresh laterite are over 50%. The solution phase is separated and solid residue is transferred to the second step atmospheric reactor, where it is treated with hot concentrated sulphuric acid. The temperature rises to over 200 oC, and reaction time is very short. All the final sulphatation is proceeding in this stage. The dry, solid residue is leached, washed well, and solution is returned to the first stage leaching reactor. After this stage the total yields of the valuable metals are about 97-98%. The residual solid phase, containing mainly silicates, is separated and removed from the process after washing.

The mother liquid from the first reactor is transferred to Me (Ni, Co)-precipitation, preferably as sulphides, because it contains iron in bivalent form.

In all the cases the liquid after Me-precipitation enters to the next precipitation stage for removal aluminium and chromium (i.e. selective precipitation stage) in the controlled pH-conditions. In the general case the next step is removal of iron and manganese with oxidation and hydroxide precipitation and the solution enters the vacuum crystallizer/ evaporator, where sulphate in solution is crystallized as magnesium monohydrate. Sulphate phase is thermally decomposed to yield sulphur dioxide, which, in turn, is sent to the acid plant to form sulphuric acid, to be recycled into the process.

Process details with different laterite types differ slightly depending on the case. Detailed process descriptions are shown for different laterite types, limonite, saprolite and mixed laterite, including full flow sheets and experimental results.



Environmental / Safety


A COMPARATIVE STUDY FOR NICKEL AND COPPER PROCESSING TECHONLOGIES USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

By

1Janelle Khoo, 2Nawshad Haque and 1Sankar Bhattacharya

1Monash University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Australia 2CSIRO, Mineral Resources Flagship, Australia

Presenter

Janelle Khoo

Corresponding Author

Nawshad Haque

ABSTRACT

Nickel and copper are two important metals widely used in industry. However, processing and production from mining to final products has environmental impacts. This paper presents results from a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study conducted for nickel and copper processing technologies. For nickel, two low grade nickel laterite ore processing technologies have been considered. These are high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) using sulphuric acid and the pyro-metallurgical ferronickel route. The main goals of this study are to identify areas where improvements are possible to reduce environmental impact. The inventory data for individual unit processes was collected from publicly available sources and also by conducting a mass balance. The LCA results obtained were segregated into individual unit processes to determine the “hotspots” in the production chain. A process model using commercial software Aspen Plus and energy balance was also completed to determine the amount of fuel required in the drying unit for ferronickel. Furthermore, LCA is being carried out for copper production through conventional pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical routes.


mailto:[email protected]


IMPLICATIONS OF THE PRESENCE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN COPPER CONCENTRATES

By

Adrian Manis and Bob Ring

Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Australia


Adrian Manis

ABSTRACT

It is not uncommon for copper concentrate to contain elevated uranium concentrations, which can have implications in smelting and refining. One approach is to remove radioactivity from concentrate, but this is difficult since uranium and its radioactive daughters have to be reduced to low levels to avoid potential impacts associated with smelting.

The main problem during smelting is the uranium decay chain daughters, lead-210 and polonium-210. These elements are volatile and tend to report to dusts, and downstream products in anode slimes processing. Even concentrates containing background uranium concentrations, can lead to the concentration of radioactivity in some parts of the process resulting in by-products that are classified as radioactive. Although the radiation dose levels are not necessarily a concern in smelter operations, there may be impacts on how some by-products can be traded.

The paper outlines the implications for radioactivity in smelter feed concentrates, approaches to alleviate any concerns, and the areas that need to be addressed by producers and processors of copper concentrates containing uranium.



Process Development


ADVANCES IN NON-FERROUS PYROMETALLURGY

By

Michael Walton

RefMet, Australia


Michael Walton

ABSTRACT

Advances in Pyrometallurgy do not come along too often, and generally take decades in development and trialling, before being accepted by operators. Thus in the last 50 years there have not been that many significant new process technologies commercialised in this field. However, those accepted, have been ones which have been able to release the ‘fuel’ value of various feed stocks, to make firstly mattes, and more recently, direct metal. Most of these have been ‘shaft’ smelters: e.g. Flash furnaces, but the most versatile has been the Top submerged lance (TSL) bath smelting processes. Some major adaptions from the ferrous side has found application in the nickel-chrome stainless steel process, and these have been incorporated into the integrated RKEF/SS flow sheet. This presentation describes the evolution of these processes and their current state of development.


CAN FARMING NICKEL PAY FOR YOUR TESTWORK AND FEASIBILITY STUDIES?

By

Boyd Willis

Boyd Willis Hydromet Consulting, Australia


Boyd Willis

ABSTRACT

Hyperaccumulator plants are plant species that are able to accumulate abnormally high concentrations of specific heavy metals in their tissues. Phytomining (or metal farming) involves the use of such plants to extract metal from the soil, followed by harvesting of the biomass and incineration to produce a bio-ore. More than 450 nickel hyperaccumulator plants have been identified around the world. Trial plantings have produced yields from 100 kg to as high as 600 kg of nickel per hectare per year. Following incineration the biomass may grade up to 30% nickel. Farming an area as small as 8 square kilometres, equivalent to an average wheat farm, has the potential to generate more than US$ 4 million per annum gross revenue, enough to fund pilot testwork and feasibility studies. Since the plants grow in the topsoil, the nickel extracted does not diminish the mining resource. Trials have determined that all of the well-established principles of agriculture, such as weed control and plant nutrition, contribute to improved yields. This means that in developing countries phytomining also presents an ideal opportunity to fulfil community engagement responsibilities.


FLOWSHEET OPTIONS FOR TREATMENT OF DIFFICULT NICKEL RESIDUES

By

Brett Muller

Simulus Engineers, Australia


Brett Muller

ABSTRACT

Residues from existing nickel process plants often contain a tantalizing amount of base and precious metals. However, economic extraction of some or all of these metals can prove more difficult than would be expected. This paper examines the technical and commercial aspects of three different leach options and subsequent down stream flowsheet implications.


VERSATIC 10 ACID/NICKSYN™ SYNERGISTIC SYSTEM VERSUS D2EHPA-CYANEX 272 FOR THE RECOVERY OF COBALT

By

1S.J. Archer,

1V. Coetzee,

2J. Scheepers,

2A.C. du Preez and

3M. H. Kotze

1DRA, South Africa

2Mintek, South Africa

3Lanxess, South Africa


Sidney Archer

Presenter

Roxanne Mottay

* DRA and Mintek acknowledges ISEC


SUCCESSFULLY SUPPLYING NF AND RO MEMBRANES TO A METAL CYANIDE LEACH TO SEPARATE THE BASE METALS FROM THE PRECIOUS METALS AND

RECOVER THE FREE CYANIDE

By

Nicholas Conradie

Nanoretech Systems (Pty) Ltd, South Africa


Nicholas Conradie


ALKALINE GLYCINE SYSTEMS AS ALTERNATIVE LEACHING REAGENTS FOR COPPER DEPOSITS OF COMPLEX MINERALOGY

By

Jacques Eksteen, Elsayed Oraby and Bennson Tanda

Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Australia


Jacques Eksteen

ABSTRACT

Recent developments in the use of alkaline glycine solutions (pH around 10) to leach a range of copper minerals will be discussed. Leaching of copper-gold ore with aerated alkaline glycine solutions at ambient conditions has shown the ability to dissolve a range of copper oxide and sulphide minerals, as well as native copper. The leaching has been found to be robust to mild pH change, and pose an alternative approach to leaching low grade copper deposits, particularly those containing a high proportion of acid-soluble gangue minerals such as calcite, dolomite, etc. Iron and silica dissolution was found to be insignificant, compared to acid leach systems. The non-volatile, non-toxic nature and high stability of glycine allows reuse and potential recovery without losses, in comparison to other alkaline leach systems such as ammonia and cyanide based systems. This allows consideration of this leach system for in-situ, heap and vat leach modes. No elemental sulfur or jarosite was detected, compared to acid-based and bioleach based systems. Copper could be recovered from its alkaline glycinate solutions fairly easily using electrowinning. The results of bench-top research will be discussed.



SX Processes


SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF NICKEL - 28 YEARS OF ENDEAVOUR

By

Murdoch Mackenzie

Consultant, Australia


Murdoch Mackenzie

ABSTRACT

Copper and uranium are the two metals most commonly recovered and refined by solvent extraction. Solvent extraction has however played an important role in the hydrometallurgy of nickel and its periodic table cousin cobalt. This paper is a review of the role that solvent extraction has played in the recovery and refining of nickel and its periodic table cousin, cobalt. It will first compare the solvent extraction technologies for copper, uranium, nickel and cobalt and will then examine in more detail the more important circuits which have been used for the recovery of nickel and often cobalt using solvent extraction. The use of solvent extraction in the recovery and refining of nickel differs from that of copper and uranium in that in some plants the nickel itself is not extracted. Instead other metals are extracted from a leach solution containing high concentrations of nickel leaving behind a nickel solution suitable for refined metal production.


A NEW SOLVENT EXTRACTION APPROACH TO NICKEL LATERITE LEACH SOLUTIONS

By

Zhaowu Zhu, Yoko Pranolo and Chu Yong Cheng

CSIRO Mineral Resources National Research Flagship, Australia


Chu Yong Cheng

ABSTRACT

A new solvent extraction (SX) system has been developed which selectively extracts zinc, cobalt and manganese over large amount of nickel, magnesium and calcium from the leach solution containing chloride without pH adjustment. All zinc and more than 90% of cobalt and manganese were extracted by the SX system in a single contact, whereas almost no or negligible nickel, magnesium and calcium were extracted. The extracted cobalt and manganese were readily stripped with water or saline water to reach high concentrations. The extraction distribution isotherm demonstrated that 4 stages were efficient to completely extract the cobalt and manganese at an A/O ratio of 3.5 with no pH control. The extracted zinc could be removed using water in a bleeding stream. The extraction kinetics of zinc, cobalt and manganese and the stripping kinetics of cobalt and manganese are very fast.

Using this new organic system, a novel direct solvent extraction (DSX) process has been developed including the main steps of (1) removal of impurities, mainly iron, by precipitation; (2) separation of zinc, cobalt and manganese from nickel, magnesium and calcium using the new SX system without pH adjustment; (3) Selective stripping of cobalt and manganese using water, (4) recovery of manganese using cheap SO2/O2 oxidising system, (5) recovery of cobalt by precipitation, (6) separation and concentration of nickel using established SSX system consisting of Versatic 10 and CLX50 to obtain high value product of nickel cathodes by electrowinning.

Compared with the traditional DSX process using the Cyanex 272 system, the most distinct advantage of the newly developed DSX process is its low operating cost since no base is needed for pH adjustment for the extraction of Co and Mn and the co-extraction of Mg.


DIRECT SOLVENT EXTRACTION FOR THE RECOVERY OF NICKEL AND COBALT FROM NITRIC ACID NICKEL LATERITE LEACH LIQUORS

By

1Michael Hutton-Ashkenny, 2Don Ibana and 3Keith R. Barnard

1WA School of Mines Curtin University, Direct Nickel, and CSIRO, Australia 2WA School of Mines, Curtin University, Australia

3CSIRO Minerals Resources National Research Flagship, Australia


Michael Hutton-Ashkenny

ABSTRACT

In nickel laterite solution processing three methods have been used commercially for the recovery of nickel and cobalt from pregnant leach solutions: mixed sulphide precipitation (MSP), mixed hydroxide precipitation (MHP), and direct solvent extraction (DSX). Of these three options, DSX produces higher value nickel and cobalt products whilst avoiding the requirement of precipitation, solid-liquid separation and releaching. Direct Nickel Ltd. (DNi) have developed a nitric acid leaching process (the DNi process) combined with reagent recycling for treatment of nickel laterite ores. In the current process flowsheet MHP is used to produce an intermediate product, which then requires further processing to generate nickel and cobalt products for sale.

The use of DSX has the potential to add further value to the DNi process by increasing the purity of the generated product and by minimising the required unit processes. Commercial DSX techniques only apply to sulphate-based leach liquors, which differ considerably from the nitrate-based leach liquor produced by DNi. A DSX process development programme using both desk-based and lab-based investigations was therefore carried out to determine likely solvent systems for successful nickel and cobalt extraction from the DNi leach liquor. Early results revealed three promising solvent systems: Versatic 10 / TBP, LIX 63 / Versatic 10 with pyridine carboxylate as a nickel accelerator, and Versatic 10 / pyridine carboxylate – an alternative to the system containing LIX 63. Optimisation and degradation studies on these three systems using nitrate-based aqueous feed from the DNi pilot plant revealed that the most promising solvent system for application to DSX from the DNi laterite leach liquor was the synergistic combination of Versatic 10 / pyridine carboxylate. With an organic phase consisting of 0.5 M Versatic 10 / 0.25 M nonyl-4-pyridinecarboxylate dissolved in ShellSol D70 at an operating temperature of 30°C, nickel and cobalt were extracted from DNi PLS in two stages at A:O of 1:1 and stripped from the loaded organic using 60 g/L nickel in 50 g/L sulphuric acid in one stage at A:O of 1:8.


NEW SYNERGISTIC SOLVENT EXTRACTION SYSTEMS FOR SEPARATION AND RECOVERY OF NICKEL, COBALT, COPPER AND ZINC IN SULPHURIC ACID, NITRIC

ACID AND HYDROCHLORIC ACID LEACH SOLUTIONS

By

Wensheng Zhang and Nicholas Kelly

CSIRO Mineral Resources Flagship, Australia


Wensheng Zhang

ABSTRACT

One step direct solvent extraction (DSX) for separation of nickel and cobalt from nickel laterite leach solutions provides an attractive path for producing high value nickel and cobalt products without need for producing intermediate mixed sulphide precipitation (MSP) and mixed hydroxide precipitation (MHP) products. CSIRO solvent extraction (SX) researchers previously developed several SX and synergistic solvent extraction (SSX) systems. In the present work, a new synergistic solvent extraction (SSX) system has been discovered and DSX processes employing the new SSX system developed for extraction and separation of nickel, cobalt, copper and zinc from manganese, magnesium and calcium in sulphuric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid / high chloride leach solutions. The newly developed SSX system and the associated DSX processes exhibit desirable properties, including:

• Organic composition employing two commercial extractants without need for a modifier,

• Strong synergistic extraction and separation of nickel, cobalt, copper and zinc frommanganese, magnesium and calcium impurities in various matrices (sulphate, nitrate, andchloride) in one DSX step, as well as separation of copper from Fe and Al,

• Reversible extraction and stripping of all the metals,

• Appropriate complex affinity difference to offer selective extraction or stripping to separatenickel, cobalt and zinc from copper within the SSX circuit,

• Fast kinetics of metal extraction and stripping, suitable for commercial applications,

• Ability to transfer the loaded valuable metals from nitrate and chloride matrices to sulphatevia stripping to provide process options for separation and recovery of individual metalproducts in sulphate,

• Chemical stability in various matrices (sulphate, nitrate, and chloride) and in correspondingsulphuric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid solutions under extraction and strippingconditions, and good phase separation properties.

Other new SSX systems have also been discovered, and are briefly described in this paper, including

(a) New SSX systems for synergistic extraction and separation of nickel and cobalt from ironand aluminium in nickel laterite heap leach solutions, and

(b) New SSX systems for separation of Cu and Zn from Ni and Co.



RECOVERY OF BASE METALS FROM CONCENTRATED CHLORIDE SOLUTIONS VIA SOLVENT EXTRACTION

By

Bryn Harris and Carl White

Neomet Technologies Inc., Canada


Bryn Harris

ABSTRACT

A series of laboratory solvent extraction shake-out tests has been carried out to study the recovery of copper and cobalt, and their separation from nickel and manganese, from concentrated chloride process solutions using two quaternary amine organic extractants, Cognis Alamine 308 and Alamine 336. The latter has been used for many years at the Glencore (formerly Xstrata and before that, Falconbridge) nickel-cobalt refinery at Kristiansand in Norway. The main objectives of the study were to observe the effects of chloride concentration, to compare the reagents, and to generate loading and stripping data such that a continuous mixer-settler circuit might be designed.

The results were generally as expected, based on theory and previous knowledge. Increasing chloride concentration increased the ability of the reagents to recover both copper and cobalt. Since it forms weaker chloro complexes, cobalt required a higher chloride concentration than did copper. As with a concurrent ion exchange study, nickel and manganese were shown to be very weakly, if at all, extracted, and hence the primary separation of copper and cobalt was demonstrated.

Finally, some observations are made on the hurdles that must be overcome when attempting to introduce and to commercialise new technologies, especially in light of the many processes and projects that have, unfortunately, not lived up to expectations. Our strategy to bring the concentrated chloride approach to commercialisation is outlined.



43 YEARS OF ESCAID™ DILUENTS USE IN SOLVENT EXTRACTION (SX

By

Daniel Bien

ExxonMobil Chemical Asia Pacific, Singapore


Daniel Bien

ABSTRACT

Diluents are an important component in solvent extraction (SX). For 43 years, ExxonMobil’s EscaidTM products have been available in the market. During this time, technology has advanced, but also requirements for diluents have changed.

The presentation will go through the history of diluents, and present both historic and more recent results related to the impact of diluent on the different performance aspects of SX processes.




SX Fire Protection


USING PRINICPLES OF INHERENT SAFETY FOR DESIGN OF HYDROMETALLURGICAL SOLVENT EXTRACTION PLANTS

By

Larry J. Moore

FM Global, USA


Larry Moore

ABSTRACT

An Inherently Safe (IS) facility relies on the reduction or elimination of hazardous materials or processes through changes in the chemistry, physics and physical design of a process rather than by relying entirely on layers of add-on protection. The mainstream chemical processing industry (CPI) has adopted guidelines and Best Practices to better apply IS when designing or modifying facilities against fires and explosions. The mining industry has not universally embraced IS nor are there published Best Practice Guidelines that promote IS in this industry. This paper addresses IS principles in general and explores specific IS opportunities for fire protection of hydrometallurgical SX plants using the concepts of intensification, substitution, attenuation, limitation of effects and simplification/error tolerance.

This paper was first given at the ALTA 2005 SX Fire Protection World Summit May 6-20, 2005 Perth, Australia and was published in the conference proceedings. It has also since been presented at the Society of Mining and Exploration (SME) Annual Meeting St. Louis Mo US April, 2006 and again at the ICHEME triennial meeting in Florence Italy April 2013. It is published under copywrite in the Chemical Engineering Transactions of the Italian Association of Chemical Engineering vol. 31, 2013.

Copyright previously assigned to AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.



Copper SX/EW


TURNING WASTE INTO VALUE: CENTRAL ASIA METALS’ KOUNRAD PROJECT – THE FIRST THREE YEARS

By

1H.M. Nicholson, 2Aung Moe, 2D. Kan, 2N.Shirley and 3P.A. Crane

1Central Asia Metals PLC, United Kingdom 2Kounrad Copper Company, Kazakhstan 3PCMETS Consulting Pty Ltd, Australia


Phil Crane

ABSTRACT

Kazakhstan’s first commercial copper-leach solvent extraction-electrowinning plant, Central Asia Metals’ Kounrad project, was commissioned in April 2012. Exploiting low grade waste stockpiles produced during Soviet era open pit mining, a 10,000tpa copper cathode plant was designed, constructed and commissioned within 18 months.

Overcoming initial challenges with a workforce unfamiliar with the technology and with extensive periods of sub-zero conditions during winter the project has consistently met targets and produced high quality copper cathodes at cash costs of less than US$1/lb., whilst providing much needed benefits to a region gripped by high unemployment through utilizing a workforce of approximately 300.

Challenges encountered during the first three years of operation are described, along with work ongoing to expand production by 50% in 2016.


THE SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMBINED LEACH – ION EXCHANGE – SOLVENT EXTRACTION - ELECTROWINNING

PROCESS AT THE BUCIM COPPER PROJECT

By

1Todor Angelov, 1Georgi Savov, 1Aleksander Tsekov and 2Ivan Nishkov

1Iontech 2000 JSC, Bulgaria 2University of Mining and Geology “St. Ivan Rilski”, Bulgaria


Todor Angelov

ABSTRACT

Bucim Copper Project is situated near the village of Bucim and in the south borders of Plachkovitsa Mountain in the Republic of Macedonia. Territorially and administratively the Project belongs to the municipality of Radovis. It is 95 kilometers away from the Skopje capital, and 170 kilometers from the nearest port Thessaloniki (Republic of Greece) at an altitude of 620 m above sea level.

Commissioned in January 2012 and reached steady copper production in August 2012, Bucim Copper Project, became the first commercial operation using combined Iontech’s hydrometallurgical process to treat low grade and higher grade oxide copper ores and to produce LME grade copper cathodes. The Iontech’s Leach-Ion Exchange–Solvent Extraction-Electrowinning process combines ion exchange and solvent extraction to extract and concentrate the copper from pregnant leach solution, before the final product - copper cathodes is obtained by electrowining. The process is suitable for recovery of copper from PLS with metal concentrations varying over a broad range as well as for treatment of solutions in the decommissioning of spent copper heaps and dumps, acid mine drainage /AMD/ аnd ammoniacal etch solutions. Furthermore, combining the ion exchange and solvent extraction allows (1) winter operation without troubles - solvent extraction works properly i.e. with good phase disengagement times, even at low temperatures (this is due to high temperatures of ion exchange regenerate used as a solvent extraction feed), (2) strongly reduces organic losses and crud formation, (3) control of metal/acid ratio, which is very important for solvent extraction process and (4) leads to solvent extraction plant sizes reduction.

In order to improve the whole plant performance, to expand the production capacity and to provide proper management of the excess drainage waters in 2014 it was decided to expand the Bucim Copper Project. The expansion will be completed in 2015, with the commissioning of newly constructed leach fields, the expanded ion exchange circuit as well as with total replacement of extractant originally used in solvent extraction circuit.

This paper highlights the successful implementation of Combined Leach-Ion Exchange–Solvent Extraction-Electrowinning process at the Bucim Copper Project, while providing the original operations description as well as the changes and additions within the plant, which will lead to improved overall performance.



A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ORGANIC QUALITY IN COPPER SOLVENT EXTRACTION

By

1Peter Cole, 2Rodrigo Zambra, 3Troy Bednarski, 1Louwrens Thomas and 3Matthew Soderstrom

1Cytec Industries, B.V South Africa 2Cytec Chile, Limitada, Chile 3Cytec Industries, Inc., USA


Peter Cole

ABSTRACT

In copper solvent extraction managing the quality of the organic phase is fundamental to ensure optimal physical and metallurgical performance in the plant operation. Organic quality is however often an overlooked element of operation. The costs associated with the specialty chemical reagents that make up the organic phase makes the organic inventory a valuable capital asset. This paper emphasizes the importance of minimizing chemical losses and maintaining the quality of the organic phase. The quality of the organic phase will be reviewed with respect to understanding its meaning, the factors that negatively impact organic quality, methods used to measure organic quality and operating practices that focus on the maintenance of organic quality. Operating data will be used to analyze how organic-phase quality affects physical and metallurgical performance of the solvent-extraction processes. Poor organic quality compromises overall recovery of copper, decreases kinetics, decreases Cu/Fe selectivity, causes increased phase separation times, exacerbates crud problems and increased entrainments. These performance issues negatively affect operating costs, reagent consumption, electrolyte purity and the quality of the copper cathode. The use of interfacial-tension measurement in tracking organic-phase quality will be discussed and its importance as a tool for quality control in solvent-extraction plants demonstrated by case-study examples. The role of clay treatment in maintenance of organic-phase quality will be a focus with analysis of the impact of poor organic quality on plant capacity and methods to overcome these limitations.


DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR COPPER RECOVERY FROM AMMONIA LEACH SOLUTIONS

By

1Aleksander Tsekov, 1Todor Angelov, 1Georgi Savov and 2Bas Nauts

1Iontech 2000 JSC, Bulgaria 2Attero, the Netherlands


Aleksander Tsekov

ABSTRACT

The Atero/Elemetal-Solvent Extraction/Electrowinning(A/E-SXEW) pilot plant is a hydrometallurgical processing plant, located at the Attero’s site Deurne in the south-east of the Netherlands. The copper Pregnant Leach Solution (PLS), obtained via ammonia leaching of bottom ash, reports to the solvent extraction (SX) section, where copper is recovered and cathode copper is produced in the electrowining (EW) circuit using stainless steel blanks. The solvent extraction section consists of 4 (four) mixer-settler units: 1 (one) for extraction, 2 (two) for washing and 1 (one) for stripping. The wash stages are employed in order to minimize transfer of ammonia and impurities between extraction and stripping. The plant design is based on the use of conventional mixer-settlers. The EW section produces 135 kg per day of cathode copper with five 9s (99.999 percent copper) quality.The A/E-SXEW pilot plant is designed to operate at low and intermittent flow rates for 6 months in order to obtain sufficient data for further process commercialization.

This paper outlines the successful piloting of solvent extraction process for copper recovery from ammonia leach solutions, while providing main operating parameters and resulting plant performance.



SULPHIDE PRECIPITATION FOR COPPER RECOVERY FROM LEACHING CIRCUITS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SX-EW: THE DRIVERS

By

Hermann Scriba

Independent Metallurgical Consultant, Australia


Hermann Scriba

ABSTRACT

Solvent extraction coupled with electrowinning, generally referred to as SX-EW, is a robust and well-established process, and often the primary method to be considered for recovery of copper in hydrometallurgical extraction circuits. However, there are instances when the project metallurgy, location or other project-specific issues call for consideration of alternatives. This paper considers one of these practical alternatives - sulphide precipitation.

Sulphide precipitation is extensively used in nickel laterite recovery circuits to recover a mixed nickel/cobalt sulphide intermediate product, the 60,000 tpa Ni Ambatovy project being the most recent example. The use of sulphide precipitation in copper flowsheets is less prevalent. However such processes have recently been operated at Talvivaara (15,000 tpa Cu) and Pueblo Viejo (11,000 tpa Cu). In this process copper is recovered as a copper sulphide concentrate for on-sale to a smelter or refinery.

This paper discusses the factors that drive consideration of the sulphide precipitation process as an alternative to SX-EW, including cost, technical and risk factors. Sulphide precipitation potentially offers the following benefits:

• Lower capital outlay;

• Operating cost benefits where power generation is costly;

• Options for difficult terrain;

• Options for vertically integrated copper miners; and

• Options for multi-metal recovery circuits.

Particularly relating to mixed oxide-sulphide copper-gold projects, sulphide precipitation potentially offers additional benefits as it enables smoothing production of a single copper product, (i.e. saleable concentrate) over the life of mine. The sulphide process potentially also has less of an impact in downstream gold recovery and H2S production has synergies with acid production and cyanide recovery processes.

Hydrogen sulphide, the most commonly used reductant in this process, is a lethal gas and due precautions need to be taken during project development, design and operation to ensure the safety of stakeholders. Involving personnel with experience in similar process plants can add significant value in the process.

If a number of the identified drivers apply to a project, sulphide precipitation can offer an alternative solution to SX-EW.




Bioleaching


THE APPLICATION PROSPECTIVE ON METAL MINERAL REINFORCED BIOLEACHING WITH HYPER THERMOPHILIC ARCHAEA

By

1,2Zaihai Zhang, 2Weiwen Yang, 2Jiaoyong Yang and 2Shanglong Zang

1Kunming Linhai Microbial Engineering Co. Ltd, China 2Beijing Extract Metallurgy & Technology Development Co., Ltd, China


Zaihai Zhang

ABSTRACT

A class of spherical protoplast collected from extreme natural environment that can grow between 5 to 100 ℃, and having it successfully domesticated and cultivated, which is named as Hyper thermophiles archaea. The reproductive ability in this type of Hyper thermophiles archaea is extremely strong, therefore, it can automatically increase the leaching process temperature, reaching 70 to 100℃, without the need for external heating. In addition, in the leaching process, this type of bacteria can cause ore particle cavitations and dissociation, so that bound-type oxidized ore and chalcopyrite which are recognized refractory minerals, have a very high rate of leaching. Pilot bioleaching and industrial leaching testing of mixed ore, copper sulfide ore, bound-type copper oxide and copper- cobalt-iron alloy showed high leaching rate. Depending on the different characteristics of mineral raw materials, leaching time is generally from 4 to 24 hours. In the continuous leaching process, the slurry can automatically maintain a high temperature (50 to 70℃) or ultra high temperature (70 to 100℃) for months. In solutions with toxic metal ions such as trivalent arsenic, high ionic strength, the outside air temperature, hypoxia and other factors had no significant effect on the effectiveness of this bacterial leaching.

This paper describes the high temperature resistance, anti toxicity etc. characteristics in the bacteria and Introduces its application in the leaching of nonferrous metals copper, nickel, cobalt etc. and rare metals, rhenium, germanium etc. Three detailed application examples are presented. One is applied under industrial production in a complex poly-metallic copper mine, the rest are industrial experiments of mixed copper sulfide and oxide. All results have showed a significant improvement in the leaching rate of copper without external heating. Copper sulfide mineral in leaching of slag is almost completely leached.

The copper concentrate bioleaching laboratory test with hyper thermophiles archaea shows a promising future, not only because the copper leaching rate exceeds 97%, but also more importantly, most of sulfur and iron remained in the leached slag. This solves the persisting problem in conventional bacterial leaching.

Keywords Hyper thermophiles archaea, Continuous agitating, Nonferrous metal; Rare metal Bioleaching


BIOHEAP® APPLICATION AT COSMIC BOY NICKEL CONCENTRATOR – AN UPDATE

By

Jason Fewings, Shawn Seet, Tim McCredden and Craig Fitzmaurice

BioHeap Ltd, Australia


Jason Fewings

ABSTRACT

During 2014 and 2015 Western Areas Ltd engaged Tetratech Proteus to conduct a feasibility study on a bioleach facility at the Cosmic Boy concentrator to process a high arsenic waste stream. In conjunction with continuous leach trials, and a range of downstream processing testwork regime, high nickel recoveries were demonstrated and high grade nickel sulphide was generated suitable for blending with existing concentrate streams.

Further project development is currently being considered by Western Areas.


THE MONDO MINERALS NICKEL SULFIDE BIOLEACH PROJECT: FROM TEST WORK TO DESIGN

By

1John Neale, 1Mariekie Gericke, 1Christoph Pawlik, 2Pieter van Aswegen, 3Stephen Barnett and 4Janne Seppälä

1Mintek, South Africa 2P Met. Consulting cc., South Africa

3Consultant, United Kingdom 4Mondo Minerals Nickel Oy, Finland


John Neale

ABSTRACT

Mondo Minerals is the world’s second-largest talc producer. The company, which is headquartered in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, has mining operations located at two sites in Finland: Sotkamo and Vuonos.

A by-product of the talc mining operations at both sites is a sulfide concentrate that contains a valuable quantity of nickel and a small amount of cobalt, but also a small but significant quantity of arsenic. While concentrate sales to smelters had been the long-established method of commercially dealing with the concentrate, Mondo chose to move downstream and create a value-added nickel product to enhance its revenue and profitability streams. Mondo tested and evaluated multiple processing options before identifying Mintek’s bioleaching technology as the most suitable for the recovery of nickel and cobalt from this side stream. In December 2014, Mondo concluded a licence agreement with Mintek, which provides exclusivity to Mondo with respect to the bioleaching of side-streams from talc production, in return for Mondo’s financial and intellectual contribution to the technology development.

The licence agreement is the culmination of a metallurgical test work programme conducted at Mintek over a period of two years, in which the application of Mintek’s technology to treat the by-product from Mondo’s talc production process was developed and successfully demonstrated. A feasibility study showed that bioleaching, combined with a nickel- and cobalt-precipitation process, is an economically-viable option for Mondo to derive value from the by-product. An important aspect of the process is that it includes the production of a stable arsenic-bearing waste, suitable for impoundment.

At full production, the plant will treat approximately 12,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate per annum, producing about 1,000 tonnes of nickel annually. The product is a mixed hydroxide precipitate containing nickel and cobalt.

This paper describes the technical development of the process, from small-scale laboratory test work, piloting, to plant design. The process includes magnetic separation, flotation and regrinding prior to bioleaching, and the downstream unit operations include iron/arsenic precipitation, dewatering, and precipitation of the nickel intermediate product. The results of the economic studies are summarised, and key aspects of the process and mechanical design are presented.

The plant is already under construction, and is being designed to withstand the cold winter conditions in Finland. Commissioning is currently scheduled to begin in August 2015.



Pressure Oxidation


LEACHING BEHAVIOR OF NI/CO MIXED SULFIDE DURING PRESSURIZED OXIDATION

By

Shinichi Heguri, Satoshi Asano and Atsushi Idegami

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd., Japan


Shinichi Heguri

ABSTRACT

Of the various intermediate products produced from nickel laterite ores by high-pressure acid leaching, nickel and cobalt mixed sulfide (MS) has the advantage of the being the easiest to separate from impurities such as magnesium and manganese. However, the low leachable of MS means that leaching has high energy requirements when compared to treating other intermediate nickel products such as hydroxides. One hydrometallurgical process that has been successfully used to leach MS is pressurized oxidation, and so this paper explores how this is affected by such variables as temperature, oxygen concentration in the gas phase, MS particle size and iron dissolution with a view to its optimization.



TACKLING IMPURITIES IN COPPER CONCENTRATES

By

Henry Salomon-de-Friedberg and Tom Robinson

Teck Resources Limited, Canada

Presenter

Tom Robinson


Henry Salomon-de-Friedberg

ABSTRACT

Historically, concentrates with higher levels of impurities were sold to smelters with the miner facing penalties that marginally reduced his revenues. The smelters then blended the impurity concentration down to acceptable levels among the various feeds they purchased. When the miner faced unusually high levels of certain impurities, his choice of smelters could be constrained or he was forced to sell his concentrate in small lots to multiple buyers. Today, the relative amount of concentrates with challenging levels of impurities is growing and the proportion of high quality concentrates available for diluting is shrinking. This can create an opportunity for dealing with the problem impurities directly at the mine site which has potential positive environmental and material stewardship outcomes.

In the present paper, case studies are presented for dealing with copper concentrates that contain mercury, bismuth or zinc based on either batch tests or in a fully integrated continuous pilot plant test at Teck’s CESL facilities in Richmond, B.C. Extensive test work and positive results for treatment on high arsenic-bearing copper concentrates has been previously discussed. High copper and mercury extractions were confirmed with tennantite/tetrahedrite and cinnabar-bearing concentrates. The generation of a high-grade, compact mercury residue that passed TCLP requirements was demonstrated during piloting. A novel process for leaching bismuth, without leaching any copper, is also discussed. Finally, selective zinc-only leaching test results from copper concentrate are presented. The deciding factor in the success of a particular approach is highly dependent upon the minerals that contain the impurity of interest.



PAL Forum


INCREASED PLANT AVAILABILITY THROUGH IMPROVED LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT OF AGITATED SYSTEMS

by

Siegfried Popp, Jochen Jung and Wolfgang Keller

EKATO RMT, Germany


Siegfried Popp

ABSTRACT

As with other industries, the trend in the mining industry is also moving towards larger tanks, bigger production units and an increase in production quantities. This trend not only applies to open tank applications but for autoclave units as well. Along with the increase in production quantities of newly commissioned plants, the added value per hour also increases simultaneously. As a consequence, plant operators are paying more and more attention to achieving a maximum increase in plant availability.

Apart from a reliable process control and the corresponding infrastructure, it is important to design and optimize each individual component for the required long lifetime.

With respect to the agitation system in particular, this not only means that a correct selection of the appropriate agitator components is required but a deep understanding of the fluid mechanical coherences in tanks and autoclaves is a prerequisite in order to master the product rheology of the different fluids and slurries. The course of action that will help achieve the high commercial requirements set for plant availability later on is already established in the planning stage. This paper provides insights concerning the technological developments that have taken place in nickel and gold refineries to maximize the plant availability, reliability and component lifetime. By incorporating the wide variety of experiences that have been accumulated with different plants that are in operation worldwide, it is now possible to even further reduce the required amount of maintenance for not only new plants but for existing plants as well.


DEFINING SEVERE SERVICE VALVES FOR MINERAL PROCESSING

By

Ross Waters

CG Industrial Specialties Ltd (CGIS), Canada


Ross Waters

ABSTRACT

No clear or universal industry definition or mechanism exists to describe and accurately define severe service valves (SSVs) from general purpose valves, yet such a definition would allow clients to benefit from improved process performance, increased profitability, safety and environmental protection. This high level paper looks to offer an objective definition for better communication between users, specifiers and suppliers.



CURRENT PLANT OPERATION OF CORAL BAY NICKEL CORPORATION

By

Laurence G. Salanga, Takao Oishi and Toru Kitazaki

Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC), Philippines


Laurence Salanga

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the current operation and the improvements of the High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) Plant at Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC) in the Philippines. The plant has been in operation since 2005 with a capacity of 10,000 Ni-t/year and this annual Nickel production has exceeded the 10,000 tons target in 2007. Subsequent to the commissioning of the second production line in 2008, the production capacity has increased to 22,000 Ni-t/year. CBNC reached the annual nickel production of more than 22,000 Ni tons in 2011. By 2012, the operation advanced towards a new target production of 24,000 Ni-t/year. The concept to achieve the new target is the high availability and the reciprocally flexible operation of both production lines. Tie-in lines between the two plants were installed for the flexible operation. To improve the operational reliability, modification of the mechanical constraints and de-bottlenecking of the process were executed. Moreover, CBNC carried out a shortened annual maintenance shutdown to increase the nickel production.


GORDES NICKEL COBALT HPAL PROJECT IN TURKEY

By

M.Mete Yesil and A.Safder Iplikcioglu

META Nikel Kobalt A.S., Turkey

Presenter

Yavuz Topkaya


M.Mete Yesil

ABSTRACT

META was established in 2002 with a primary aim to be a regional supplier of nickel in various forms. META developed the Turkey’s first nickel project in the Western Turkey in 2000-2001 and has been working on lateritic nickel deposits since then. Currently, META holds majority of the known laterite resources of Turkey, located in 3 different areas throughout the western part of Turkey.

Gordes is the most advanced project of all laterite projects where a 10,000 tonnes/year nickel equivalent MHP producing HPAL plant completed in mid-2014. Commissioning was completed in December 2014. Following ramp up period and optimization of the first HPAL plant, the capacity is aimed to be increased with addition of an EW/SX and/or a Nickel Chemicals Plant. R&D works are also underway for recovery of other valuable elements within the ore.

This paper presents an overview of the Gordes Project including process development testwork and establishment of process route, construction details, commissioning and operating issues and also advantages of the Gordes Project over other known projects in terms of location, investment and housing country.



RAMU NICKEL MINING PROJECT IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

By

Peter Jolly

Highlands Pacific Limited, Australia


Peter Jolly

ABSTRACT

The Ramu nickel project started load commissioning in March 2012 and by the end of 2014 had achieved in excess of 70% of nameplate capacity, with the operation achieving a positive cash-flow. The paper will provide an overview of the unique features of the Ramu Nickel project, including the issues of mining in a wet tropical environment and the logistics and community relations aspects of managing such a large project in Papua New Guinea. Production costs will also be presented.


ENGINEERING DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF THE HPAL PLANT AT TAGANITO

By

1Yoji Kyoda, 1Takehiko Ito, 1Yasumasa Hattori and 2Fumio Mizuno

1Taganito HPAL Nickel Corporation, Philippines 2Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd., Japan


Yoji Kyoda

ABSTRACT

Taganito HPAL Nickel Corporation (THPAL), which is a joint venture company of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (SMM) and other shareholders, produces Nickel/Cobalt Mixed Sulfide (MS) from low grade lateritic ore by a technology developed by SMM, including the High Pressure Acid Leaching Process (HPAL), at Taganito, located on Mindanao Island, Philippines. The plant is designed to produce 30,000 metric tons of nickel and 2,640 metric tons of cobalt per year as mixed sulphide.

The construction of the THPAL plant commenced in 2010 and mechanical completion was achieved in June 2013, even though construction was interrupted by a local security issue along the way. Currently, the plant has attained name plate capacity on a monthly production basis.

This paper provides the conceptual basis of the engineering design for the HPAL technology which was improved and developed in order to achieve higher leaching performance and higher availability of processing equipment based on the lessons of SMM’s previous HPAL project. Furthermore, this paper highlights the current operating updates of THPAL and reviews the major outcomes during the construction and the commissioning of the project.



Not Presented


(Included in Proceedings but not Presented)

GME’S NIWEST NICKEL PROJECT – ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF NI LATERITE HEAP LEACH, SX-EW PROCESS

By

1David Readett and 2Jamie Sullivan

1Mworx Pty Ltd, Australia 2GME Resources Ltd, Australia


David Readett

ABSTRACT

GME through its 100% owned subsidiary, NiWest Limited owns the NiWest Nickel Laterite Project. The project contains 100 million tonnes of nickel laterite resource that can be exploited by low strip ratio open pit mining. The NiWest Nickel Laterite Project is located 50 kilometers east of the Leonora Township in the North Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The project is comprised of seven separate tenement areas in close proximity, covering approximately 500 km2.

Over the past five years GME has investigated a number of options for the development of a nickel heap leach operation. During this time GME has developed patented laterite agglomeration technology and acid regeneration technology. The general outcomes of the GME testwork indicate all ore types appear to be heap leachable.

A scoping options study, considering a number of options and production rates, was conducted to establish the most economically attractive option for development and processing of the NiWest. Ultimately a 1.5Mtpa Heap Leach SX-EW flowsheet was selected as the optimal initial project producing up to 15,000tpa Ni. This option has a Capital Cost of $461M at an average LOM operating cost of US$5.68/lb Ni giving an NPV of A$864M and IRR of 37%.

A programme to progress the project through a Definitive Feasibility Study had been established and committed to by GME. A dedicated metallurgical sonic drilling programme has been completed. Over the next 12 months testing of all key aspects of the proposed flowsheet will be conducted both in batch and continuous pilot plant. Testing conditions will be based on the outcomes of metallurgical modelling. Two options for the SX will be considered, being a Nicksyn based flowsheet and the CMN Technology Flowsheet. Results from completed test work will be summarised.


Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Conference

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Transcript of Nickel-Cobalt-Copper Conference