Microwave thermal pre-treatment to improve nickel extraction from lateritic ore

Vollständiger Abstract

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Two heat treatment processes for a nickeliferous laterite sample are presented, one by the conventional muffle route and the other by microwave. The heating was carried out in order to improve the dissolution of nickel in an acid medium. The study describes the changes observed in the mineral for the increase in temperature as a consequence of radiation in the microwave and in the muffle. The changes in the mineral crystalline phases were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The leaching media consisted of a 1 M sulfuric acid solution at ambient conditions for 7 h. The interaction between the reagent and the nickel ions is due to the reaction zones generated after heating. Only one of the heat treatments studied increased the dissolution of the metal by 11%. The leaching efficiency of the lateritic mineral showed that the mineral structure and matrix transformation during heating were important in the extraction of nickel. Optimizing the conditions of both thermal treatment and leaching could enhance nickel extraction by increasing its availability in the process.