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Preparation of High Nickel Grade Ferronickel From Nickel Sulfide Concentrate with Minimal Sulfur Dioxide Emission

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Abstract

Nickel is a key element for stainless steel and lithium-ion batteries. However, the conventional extraction of nickel from sulfide ores generates large amounts of sulfur dioxide and slag and demands complex-refining processes to produce marketable products. The authors have proposed a sustainable nickel extraction strategy that retained the bulk of sulfur as solid iron sulfide and extracted nickel value into ferronickel simultaneously. This simple thermal treatment comprised two stages and yielded high nickel grade, high nickel extraction, and large ferronickel grains. The present study demonstrates that these grains of ferronickel can be efficiently separated from the nickel-depleted iron sulfide matrix. The high nickel grade (30 mass pct) and relatively low remaining sulfur concentration (4 mass pct) of the recovered ferronickel concentrate make it a potential feedstock for either stainless steel or nickel-containing cathode material.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from the Connaught Innovation Fund at the University of Toronto and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC I2IPJ 566697) and technical support from Vale Canada. Sincere thanks to Dr. Abdolkarim Danaei for his help with the experiments.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E4, Canada

    Fanmao Wang, Sam Marcuson & Mansoor Barati

  2. Vale Base Metals Technology and Innovation, 2060 Flavelle Blvd., Mississauga, ON, L5K 1Z9, Canada

    Manqiu Xu

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  1. Fanmao Wang
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  2. Sam Marcuson
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Correspondence to Fanmao Wang.

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Wang, F., Marcuson, S., Xu, M. et al. Preparation of High Nickel Grade Ferronickel From Nickel Sulfide Concentrate with Minimal Sulfur Dioxide Emission. Metall Mater Trans B 54, 2758–2770 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-023-02872-8

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