APPLICATIN OF ATTRITION GRINDING IN ACID LEACHING OF NICKEL SULFIDE CONCENTRATE
(1.Institute of Chemical Metallurgy; The Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100080
2.Institute of Metallurgy; Technical University of Berlin; Strasse des 17 Juni 135; 106 23 Berlin; Germany)
2.Institute of Metallurgy; Technical University of Berlin; Strasse des 17 Juni 135; 106 23 Berlin; Germany)
Abstract: The acid leaching of fine ground nickel sulfide concentrate under atmospheric pressure was studied. The leaching experiments were performed with a pyrrhotite containing nickel sulfide concentrate and ferric ion as oxidant. The effects of attrition grinding, leaching temperature, concentration of sulfuric acid as well as formation of elemental sulfur on the leaching rate were investigated. The experimental results demonstrated that attrition grinding as a technique of mechanical activation can offer significant advantage for hydrometallurgical processing of complex metal sulfide ores and concentrate.
Key words: acid leaching nickel cobalt sulfide concentrate