Bioleaching of a low-grade ultramafic nickel sulphide ore in stirred-tank reactors at elevated pH

被引：27

作者：

Cameron, Rory A. ^{[2
]}

Lastra, Rolando ^{[1
]}

Mortazavi, Saviz ^{[1
]}

Bedard, Pierre L. ^{[1
]}

Morin, Lucie ^{[1
]}

Gould, W. Douglas ^{[1
]}

Kennedy, Kevin J. ^{[2
]}

机构：

[1] Nat Resources Canada, Min & Mineral Sci Lab, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G1, Canada

[2] Univ Ottawa, Dept Chem Engn, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada

来源：

HYDROMETALLURGY | 2009年 / 97卷 / 3-4期

基金：

加拿大自然科学与工程研究理事会;

关键词：

Pentlandite; Nickel; Ultramafic nickel sulphide; Bioleaching; Elevated pH; Serpentine minerals; Lizardite; ACID-MINE DRAINAGE; PENTLANDITE; OXIDATION; IRON;

D O I：

10.1016/j.hydromet.2009.03.002

中图分类号：

TF [冶金工业];

学科分类号：

0806 ;

摘要：

The purpose of the present work is to investigate the technical feasibility of using elevated-pH bioleaching on a low-grade ultramafic nickel sulphide ore from Manitoba, Canada, which is not currently exploitable with conventional technologies. The ore contains 21% magnesium (similar to 35% MgO) and 0.3% nickel. Nickel is the only significant metal value, and is present primarily as pentlandite. A substantial fraction of the magnesium is present as lizardite, making processing difficult with conventional pyro- and biohydrometallurgical techniques. This work has two equally important objectives: to minimize magnesium mobilization and to maintain an acceptable level of nickel extraction. Five-week stirred-tank bioleaching experiments were conducted with finely ground ore (-147 mu m) at 30 degrees C to study the effect of pH (2 to 6) on nickel and magnesium extraction. The rate of nickel extraction from pentlandite was found to be relatively insensitive to acidity at low pH and positively correlated to acidity at high pH. During the first three weeks of bioleaching, nickel was extracted at similar rates for experiments conducted at pH <= 5, with over 70% of the nickel extracted in that timeframe. The leaching of magnesium showed a greater dependency on pH. gradually decreasing from 70 to 10% at pH 2 and 5 respectively, after five weeks. Bioleaching at elevated pH substantially increased the ratio of nickel to magnesium in the leachate, and resulted in substantially less sulphuric acid consumption. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：213 / 220

页数：8

共 37 条

[11] Dutrizac JE, 2000, MAGNESIUM TECHNOLOGY 2000, P41
[12] DUTRIZAC JE, 1974, CIM BULL, V67, P169
[13] *ER, 2006, ER REF DOC
[14] Critical evaluation of coupling particle size distribution with the shrinking core model
Gbor, PK
Jia, CQ
[J]. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE, 2004, 59 (10) : 1979 - 1987
[15] Gherna R., 1989, American Type Culture Collection, Catalogue of Bacteria and Phages, V17th
[16] HABASHI F, 1997, METALLURGY PETROLEUM, V1, P4
[17] Evaluation of in situ layers for treatment of acid mine drainage: A field comparison
Hulshof, Andrea H. M.
Blowes, David W.
Gould, W. Douglas
[J]. WATER RESEARCH, 2006, 40 (09) : 1816 - 1826
[18] HUNTER C, 2002, NICK COB 8 TECHN P P
[19] Measured and computed neutralization potentials from static tests of diverse rock types
Jambor, J. L.
Dutrizac, J. E.
Raudsepp, M.
[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY, 2007, 52 (06): : 1019 - 1031
[20] Kerfoot D.G.E., 1997, Handbook of Extractive Metallurgy, P715

← 1 2 3 4 →