Nickel ore mixed flotation process
The main source of nickel production in various countries is nickel sulfide ore, accounting for about 60%; Rich ores containing more than 3% nickel can be directly smelted, and the sulfide minerals of nickel mainly include sulfide copper nickel ore, nickel pyrite, needle sulfide nickel ore, etc. The commonly used ore dressing method is flotation, and gravity and magnetic separation are also used as auxiliary means; The flotation process includes priority flotation process, mixed flotation process, mixed priority flotation process, and flotation magnetic separation combined process. Nickel oxide ore mainly utilizes laterite nickel ore, accounting for about 40% of the production; The treatment methods for laterite nickel ore mainly include pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and combined beneficiation and metallurgy.
The mixed flotation process of sulfide nickel ore is a common beneficiation method that allows for the separation of nickel minerals from other useful minerals with similar flotation properties to form a mixed coarse concentrate. Subsequent work can further process the mixed coarse concentrate to separate and enrich nickel minerals.
process flow
- 1.Crushing： The raw ore first goes through two stages of crushing: coarse crushing and fine crushing, and is crushed to a certain size for subsequent grinding processing.
- 2.Grinding：The crushed ore is sent to a grinding machine for grinding, and it is ground into fine powder. The fineness of grinding is usually controlled at around 0.074mm to ensure that mineral particles are fully exposed and facilitate flotation treatment.
- 3.Mixed flotation：The ground slurry is sent to the flotation machine, during which specific collectors are used to flotation nickel minerals and other useful minerals together. Mixed flotation can be an open circuit or closed circuit process, depending on the properties of the ore and the beneficiation target.
- 4.Separation flotation： For mixed coarse concentrate, further separation flotation can be carried out to separate nickel minerals and other minerals. This usually involves adjusting flotation conditions, such as changing the type and concentration of reagents, adjusting pH values, changing gas supply, etc.
- 5.Concentrate Treatment：After separation and flotation, the concentrate is dried, dehydrated, and dried to obtain nickel concentrate products.
Technological advantages
- Efficient recovery of nickel：The mixed flotation process can efficiently recover nickel minerals while allowing for the recovery of other useful minerals, improving overall resource utilization.
- Flexibility：The mixed flotation process provides greater flexibility and can adjust flotation strategies based on ore properties and market demand.
- Simplified process：Compared with other multi-stage flotation processes, the mixed flotation process is more simplified, reducing the cost of beneficiation and operational complexity.
- Environmental Protection and Energy Conservation：Mixed flotation usually requires less reagents and energy consumption, and has a relatively small impact on the environment, which meets the requirements of green mineral processing.
- The mixed flotation process of sulfide nickel ore can efficiently and flexibly recover nickel minerals and other useful minerals, while also having advantages such as simplified process, environmental protection and energy conservation.
Typical beneficiation plant
Mangtkens nickel beneficiation plant in Australia: The metal minerals in the ore are mainly nickel pyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sulfide nickel ore, etc., while the gangue minerals are mainly serpentine, olivine, talc, etc. The specific process is as follows:
