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Separation and Recovery of Iron and Nickel from Low-Grade Laterite Nickel Ore Using Reduction Roasting at Rotary Kiln Followed by Magnetic Separation Technique

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Abstract

The low-grade nickel laterite ore used in this study was successfully upgraded through selective reduction by industrialized rotary kilns followed by magnetic separation. The results indicated that both iron metallization extent and nickel metallization extent showed obvious linear correlation. In addition, rational roasting temperature and prolonged grinding time could enhance the overall fineness level of reduced laterite nickel ore. The moderate roasting temperature at a range of 1100–1150 °C should be suitable enough to a conversion of total nickel to metallic nickel and partly inhibited the conversion of total iron. Ultimately, the obtained ferronickel alloy with a nickel content of 7.32% and an iron content of 84.15% was prepared successfully from the low-grade nickel laterite ore containing a nickel content of 1.92%. Nickel and iron recoveries were 96.72 and 89.08% respectively, which achieved the highly efficient recovery and utilization of iron and nickel from low-grade laterite nickel ore.

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Funding

The authors received financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51704061) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2016 M601321) and Fundamental Research Funds of the Central Universities of China (N162503003) and Northeastern University Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20170306).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Lihua Gao, Zhenggen Liu, Yuzhu Pan, Yang Ge, Cong Feng, Mansheng Chu & Jue Tang

Authors
  1. Lihua Gao
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  2. Zhenggen Liu
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  3. Yuzhu Pan
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  4. Yang Ge
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  5. Cong Feng
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  6. Mansheng Chu
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  7. Jue Tang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhenggen Liu or Mansheng Chu.

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Gao, L., Liu, Z., Pan, Y. et al. Separation and Recovery of Iron and Nickel from Low-Grade Laterite Nickel Ore Using Reduction Roasting at Rotary Kiln Followed by Magnetic Separation Technique. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 36, 375–384 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-018-0012-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-018-0012-z

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