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Talvivaara Nickel Mine — from a project to a mine and beyond

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Ni-Co 2013

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Abstract

The first commercial application of bioleaching in Europe is the Talvivaara Sotkamo Mine in Finland. The ore contains low grade sulphide minerals. Utilization of the deposit has been extensively studied for over 20 years. Bioheapleaching technology was chosen for the extraction of nickel from the ore based on its favorable capital, operational costs and good performance data obtained in a large on-site pilot trial.

Building of the industrial scale plant was started in 2007 and metals recovery started in 2008. In full production the annual nickel production will be approximately 50,000tpa. In addition, the mine will also produce zinc, copper and cobalt.

Talvivaara will start to recover uranium from the PLS solution. A novel solvent extraction process will be used to extract uranium for the yellowcake production. An update of the existing operation, uranium extraction and the plans for the production expansion and upgrading beyond the 50,000tpa will be discussed.

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References

  1. Puhakka, J.A., Kaksonen, A.H., and Riekkola-Vanhanen, M. Heap leaching of Talvivaara black schist ore. In Biomining, ed. Rawlings, D.E. and Johnson, D.B. Springer-Verlag, 2007, 139–152.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Talvivaara Mining Company Plc, Ahventie 4 B 47, FI-02170, Espoo, Finland

    Marja Riekkola-Vanhanen & Lauri Palmu

Authors
  1. Marja Riekkola-Vanhanen
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  2. Lauri Palmu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Midrex Technologies, Pineville, North Carolina, USA

    Thomas Battle (Senior Metallurgist) (Senior Metallurgist)

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA

    Michael Moats (associate professor of Metallurgical Engineering) (associate professor of Metallurgical Engineering)

  3. R&D Metal Extraction Products Group, Cytec Industries Inc., USA

    Violina Cocalia Ph.D.

  4. group “Recycling and Extraction”, Umicore’s Central R&D department, USA

    Harald Oosterhof (Scientist) (Scientist)

  5. Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada

    Shafiq Alam (Associate Professor, Executive Committee Member) (Associate Professor, Executive Committee Member)

  6. Hydrometallurgy Section, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), Canada

    Shafiq Alam (Associate Professor, Executive Committee Member) (Associate Professor, Executive Committee Member)

  7. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Antoine Allanore (Assistant Professor of Metallurgy) (Assistant Professor of Metallurgy)

  8. Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), South Africa

    Rodney Jones (Registered Professional Engineer, a Fellow and Vice President, a full member) (Registered Professional Engineer, a Fellow and Vice President, a full member)

  9. South African Institute of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE), South Africa

    Rodney Jones (Registered Professional Engineer, a Fellow and Vice President, a full member) (Registered Professional Engineer, a Fellow and Vice President, a full member)

  10. Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA), South Africa

    Rodney Jones (Registered Professional Engineer, a Fellow and Vice President, a full member) (Registered Professional Engineer, a Fellow and Vice President, a full member)

  11. Barrick Technology Centre, Canada

    Nathan Stubina (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee) (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee)

  12. Professional Engineers of Ontario, Canada

    Nathan Stubina (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee) (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee)

  13. CIM, Canada

    Nathan Stubina (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee) (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee)

  14. CIM’s Board of Directors, Canada

    Nathan Stubina (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee) (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee)

  15. 2009 Conference of Metallurgists (COM), Sudbury, Canada

    Nathan Stubina (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee) (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee)

  16. NAEMC (North American Extractive Metallurgy Council), Canada

    Nathan Stubina (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee) (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee)

  17. Harold A. Steane Memorial Scholarship, Canada

    Nathan Stubina (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee) (Manager, member, VP International, Chair, MetSoc Past-President, founding member, trustee)

  18. Institution of Chemical Engineers, USA

    Corby Anderson (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor) (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor)

  19. Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, USA

    Corby Anderson (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor) (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor)

  20. Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy, USA

    Corby Anderson (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor) (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor)

  21. George S. Ansell Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, USA

    Corby Anderson (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor) (Fellow, Harrison Western Professor)

  22. Rio Tinto Kennecott Utah Copper, USA

    Shijie Wang (Principal Advisor) (Principal Advisor)

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© 2013 TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society)

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Riekkola-Vanhanen, M., Palmu, L. (2013). Talvivaara Nickel Mine — from a project to a mine and beyond. In: Battle, T., et al. Ni-Co 2013. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48147-0_19

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