Hydrometallurgical processing sulfide materials, sulfur

Sulfur from the Hydrometallurgical Processing of Sulfide Materials... 

Although these hydro-based processes, when applied to sulfidic sources, do not cause air pollution due to sulfur dioxide emission, they - and many other hydrometallurgical operations that are generally used for a wide variety of raw materials and resources - can create both land and water pollution problems. 

The first electrolytic nickel refinery plant, treating nickel metal anodes, was built by Hybinette in Kristiansand, Norway, in 1910, and this plant was acquired by Falconbridge in 1928. INCO developed electrorefining of nickel sulfide matte anodes in the 1950s. In a typical electrowinning process, the raw material is first smelted to a matte and then leached in a sulfate or chloride solution. The sulfur of the raw material is oxidized to insoluble elemental sulfur or soluble sulfate. The nickel contents of the mattes treated hydrometallurgically are in the... 

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