How is laterite mined?

Nickel laterites are generally mined via open cut mining methods with ore extracted via some form of hydrometallurgy process, with two main process routes; high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) and for some types of limonite type nickel laterites, heap leach-SX-EW process routes are viable.

Is laterite an iron ore?

Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content.

What is nickel laterite mining?

Extraction. Nickel laterites are a very important type of nickel ore deposit. They are growing to become the most important source of nickel metal for world demand (currently second to sulfide nickel ore deposits). Nickel laterites are generally mined via open cut mining methods.

What is high pressure acid leaching?

High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) is a process used to extract nickel and cobalt from laterite ore bodies. The HPAL process utilizes elevated temperatures (roughly 255 degrees Celsius), elevated pressures (roughly 50 bar or 725 psi), and sulfuric acid to separate nickel and cobalt from the laterite ore.

What does the term laterite mean?

Definition of laterite : a residual product of rock decay that is red in color and has a high content in the oxides of iron and hydroxide of aluminum.

Why is laterite soil used for construction?

As reported by [2] laterite soil is suitable to be used for the construction material, this is because when laterites are dried out, irreversible hardening always occurs. Laterite soil are commonly used as road pavement materials to provide a better sub base, gravel for roads and base materials.

What is the use of laterite?

Laterite soil are commonly used as road pavement materials to provide a better sub base, gravel for roads and base materials. They are also good material for embankment construction [3].

What is the extraction process of nickel?

The extraction of nickel from the sulfidic ore requires a different method. Current methods include both flash and electric smelting. The ore is placed in the furnace which already contains pre-heated oxygen. This smelting process will cause the iron and sulfide to oxidize resulting in 45% nickel.

How is nickel extracted from plants?

The first step of the extraction process consists in burning the crops, which produces energy and nickel-rich ashes. These ashes then undergo multiple chemical treatments to extract nickel salts, which are used for industrial purposes.

What is a mining autoclave?

The Pressure Oxidized (POx) autoclave circuit is a hydrometallurgical process that recovers minerals from sulphide ores by injecting oxygen into slurry in an autoclave vessel. Operating at high pressures and temperatures, the exothermic POx process generates heat and acid.

What is acid leaching in mining?

Heap leaching is also known as acid leaching. This method is most effective for the extraction of metals from difficult ores, and is one of the most tried and tested methods. The pre-processing of ore before leaching involves the grinding and roasting of the ore.

How are bricks made from laterite soil?

Bricks were manufactured from lateritic soil-clay and clay-sand mixes with various mix proportions; 30, 40, 50, and 60% sand (by weight) were mixed with clay soil, 20 and 40% clay (by weight) were mixed with lateritic soil. The bricks were burnt at 1000°C for periods of 2, 4 and 6 h.

Where is laterite found?

laterite, soil layer that is rich in iron oxide and derived from a wide variety of rocks weathering under strongly oxidizing and leaching conditions. It forms in tropical and subtropical regions where the climate is humid.

Why laterite is used in cement industry?

The consumption of laterite in cement has increased due to increased demand of cement in the country. In future, laterite could be used as a source of metallic minerals like iron, aluminium, chromite and of trace elements like gallium and vanadium.

What are the characteristics of laterite?

(i) Laterite Soils are leached Soils because alternating dry and wet spells cause the soluble silica to be removed. (ii) These Soils are acidic in nature and coarse and crumbly in texture. (iii) The proportion of lime and silica is reduced when leaching takes place.

Is laterite stone sustainable?

Economic, Significant. Laterite, known as ‘green’ or environmental friendly construction materials can easily be re-cycled, have low energy consumption and toxicity in production and applications. Building professionals have the responsibility to ensure that laterite used is environmentally friendly and sustainable.

What mining method is used to mine nickel?

The mining of laterites is basically an earth-moving operation, with large shovels, draglines, or front-end loaders extracting the nickel-rich strata and discarding large boulders and waste material. The ore is loaded into trucks at the face, as would be the case in an open pit, and hauled to the smelter.

Where is iron extracted from?

Iron is extracted from iron ore in a huge container called a blast furnace. Iron ores such as haematite contain iron(III) oxide, Fe 2O 3. The oxygen must be removed from the iron(III) oxide in order to leave the iron behind.

How are laterite ores formed?

Laterite ores are formed by the process of weathering and normally found in tropical regions where weathering extracts and deposits it in layers at varying depths below the ground surface. Laterite ores are excavated using large earth moving equipment and are screened to remove boulders.

How are nickel laterite ore sulfides processed?

While sulfide nickel ores are processed via upgrading to concentrates and then smelting, this approach is not applicable to laterite ores. A variety of approaches are available to process nickel laterite ores, with the most prevalent approaches explained below. The method (s) chosen is dependent on the composition of the unique ore source.

How is iron ore processed?

When the iron ore is extracted from the mine, it must undergo several processing stages. 1. Screening We recommend that you begin by screening the iron ore to separate fine particles below the crusher’s CSS before the crushing stage.

What is ferricrete and laterite?

Ferricrete and laterite are ferruginous duricrusts cemented by iron oxides occurring as indurated continuous crusts and soil horizons in the landscape (Lamplugh, 1902; Bourman, 1993 ). Fundamental to the formation of ferricrete and laterite is the formation and accumulation of insoluble ferric iron in soils and regolith.