Nickel-cobalt matte, ammonia pressure

The application of ammonia pressure leaching as a method of refining nickel-cobalt matte has been studied (Bll, P3) and is considered an economically attractive process. Nickel-copper mattes with low cobalt content have been found to be readily leached with ammonia (P3). A high-nickel matte with a composition of 77% Ni, 0.1% Cu, 1.8% Co, 0.7% Fe, and 20% S is amenable to both acid and ammonia leach, but the sulfur deficiency can be made up more economically by circulation of ammonium sulfate solution within the process than by providing the sulfur through addition of sulfuric acid. 

Sherritt ammonia pressure leaching. This hydrometallurgical process was first implemented in 1954 by Sherritt Gordon Mines in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. In this process, the finely ground nickel sulfide concentrates obtained after flotation or the metal matte are reacted at 80 to 95°C in a high-pressure autoclave under 850 kPa with an oxygenated ammonia or ammonia-ammonium sulfate liquor. Ammonia dissolves nickel and, to a lesser extent, cobalt, zinc, and copper by forming soluble ammonia complex cations as follows ... 

Nickel and cobalt are recovered by processes that employ both pressure leaching and precipitation steps. The raw materials for these processes can be sulfide concentrates, matte, arsenide concentrates, and precipitated sulfides. Typically, acidic conditions are used for leaching however, ammonia is also effective in leach solutions because of the tendency for soluble cobalt and nickel ammines to form under the leach conditions. 

Cobalt can be recovered from nickel-sulfide concentrates or nickel matte by the Sherritt-Gordon ammonia leaching process in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, and it is also recovered from sulfuric-acid pressure leaching of laterites. In both cases, cobalt is obtained in nickel-free liquor by reduction with hydrogen under elevated pressure and temperature (Section 2.2). 

The high-grade matte from the converter process or the flash melting process contains sulfur and some amounts of copper, cobalt and iron and, in addition, traces of noble metals. Refined nickel is produced by a variety of methods and is delivered as nickel cathodes or nickel powder. The latter are produced partly by carbonyl processes, partly by hydrogen reduction in conjunction with pressure leaching processes. In the latter, matte is leached under pressure with acid or ammonia, and nickel is recovered as a powder by reduction with hydrogen under pressure. 

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