Nickel-iron matte

Browne s Process,3 which is made use of by the Canadian Copper Company, consists in desulphurising copper-nickel-iron matte, whereby a product, containing 54 per cent, of copper and 43 per cent, of nickel, together ivith small quantities of iron and sulphur, results. Half of this is cast into anodes and the remainder is treated with chlorine in brine, whereby the metals are obtained in solution as chlorides. On electrolysing, copper is deposited on to cathodes of the sa,me metal until the proportion of copper to nickel is reduced to 1 in 80. Addition... 

Hybinette A process for extracting nickel from sulfide ores. The nickel ore that occurs in Canada is a mixture of the sulfides of nickel, copper, and iron. Several methods have been used to separate these metals. In the Hybinette process, the ore is first smelted in a blast furnace, yielding a nickel-copper matte (i.e., a mixture of their lower sulfides). This is roasted to remove sulfur and leached with dilute sulfuric acid to remove copper. The resulting crude nickel oxide is used as the anode of an electrochemical cell. The nickel deposits on the cathode, which is contained in a cloth bag. Precious metals collect in the anode slime. The process was invented by N. V Hybinette in 1904 and operated at the Kristiansand refinery, Norway, from 1910. 

Slow-cooled matte A process for extracting platinum metals from copper-nickel matte. The molten matte is cooled slowly, over several days. This causes the platinum metals to enter a nickel-iron phase which can be separated magnetically from the other components. Operated by Rustenberg Platinum Mines in South Africa, and INCO in Canada. 

A very important alloy containing 25 per cent, of nickel and 75 per cent, of copper finds extensive application in the manufacture of currency both in Europe and in the New World. Reference has already been made to this in previous pages.1 Monel metal is an alloy of nickel and copper made by the Orford Copper Company by direct reduction of the nickel-copper matte obtained from the Sudbury ores (see p. 82). It is therefore termed a natural alloy. It contains from 60-72 per cent, of nickel, the remainder consisting mainly of copper with iron ranging from 0-5 to 6-5 per cent. The United States Government specification, issued in July 1910, for monel metal requires 8... 

NICKEL FLUOROBORATE see NDCOOO NICKEL(II) FLUOSILICATE (1 1) see NDDOOO NICKEL-GALLIUM ALLOY see NDD500 NICKEL(II) HYDROXIDE see NDEOOO NICKEL(III) HYDROXIDE see NDEOlO NICKELIC HYDROXIDE see NDEOlO NICKELIC OXIDE see NDH500 NICKEL IRON SULFIDE see NDE500 NICKEL-IRON SULFIDE MATTE see NDE500 NICKEL MONOANTIMONIDE see NCYIOO NICKEL MONOARSENIDE see NCYllO NICKEL MONOSULFATE HEXAHYDRATE see NDLOOO... 

Spence and Cook (S21) described the commercial operation of th Thompson Refinery of International Nickel Company in Manitoba wher the nickel sulfide matte is melted and cast into anodes containing 76% Ni 20% S, and the balance made up mostly of copper, cobalt, and iron. Th direct casting of the sulfide matte into anodes eliminated two pyro... 

World nickel metal production in 2002 was 678000 tons [39]. Hydrometallurgy has typically been applied to the treatment of nickel-copper mattes, anode nickel, and reduced laterite ore. The sulfide concentrates are usually oxidized by roasting and then smelted to copper-iron-nickel sulfide matte (75-80% Cu-Ni), which is refined or used directly to make M onel metal. Cathode nickel can be produced from a variety of electrolytes, including chloride, sulfate, or a mixed chloride-sulfate. The former two are acid systems used in leaching and electrowinning. Mixed chloride-sulfate electrolytes are used for electrorefining the nickel sulfide matte from the traditional matte-smelting operations. 

A variant of this process was developed in Australia by AUSMELT in 1998 their process used a closed induction furnace but with an air feed to bum the cadmium in the furnace and recover it in the form of cadmium oxide. The process produced nickel matte which had to be sent to the nickel refiners and highly contaminated cadmium oxides that had to be sent to the producers of primary cadmium. This required a higher investment than closed furnaces and the products extracted were somewhat less effectively recyeled than the nickel-iron and cadmium metal residues. 

A special refining process is the carbonyl nickel process, an old process, which was invented in 1902 in Wales and used as the Langer-Mond process. Originally the plant treated nickel-copper matte but the process today is highly modified. The principle is a treatment at 60°C with carbon monoxide at atmospheric pressure. Nickel carbonyl, Ni(CO) is formed. This is a volatile Kquid that melts at -19.3°C and boils at 42.5°C. In this process nickel (and some iron) is carried off while other metals remain. Heating the gas to 180°C decomposes it and pure nickel powder is obtained. 

Pyrometa.llurgica.1 Processes. Nickel oxide ores are processed by pyrometaHurgical or hydrometaHurgical methods. In the former, oxide ores are smelted with a sulfiding material, eg, gypsum, to produce an iron—nickel matte that can be treated similarly to the matte obtained from sulfide ores. The iron—nickel matte may be processed in a converter to eliminate iron. The nickel matte then can be cast into anodes and refined electrolyticaHy. 

Sulfide ores are processed by a number of pyrometallurgical processes roasting, smelting, and converting. During these processes, sulfur and iron are removed to deld a sulfur-deficient copper-nickel matte. Especially after roasting and converting, the nickel in the matte may consist primarily of nickel subsulfide. After physical separation of the copper and nickel sulfides, the nickel is refined electrochemically or by the carbonyl process. The treatment of the matte depends on the end use of the nickel. Alternatively, the sulfide can be roasted to form a nickel oxide sinter that is used directly in steel production. 

Another process that has benefited from procedures such as that outlined above is the removal of cobalt from leach liquors derived from the extraction of nickel-bearing concentrates or mattes.406 Traditionally, the removal of cobalt from such acidic sulfate solutions has been based on the affinity of the trivalent metal ions (such as those of iron and cobalt) for hydroxide, which... 

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