Microwave pretreatment for enhanced selective nitric acid pressure leaching of limonitic laterite

Abstract

As clean energy, the microwave is commonly used to pretreat various ores. In this work, the microwave dielectric properties of limonitic laterite ore were measured by resonant cavity perturbation technique and the effects from microwave were systematically investigated. Results indicated that limonitic laterite had high microwave absorbance. After microwave pretreatment, the microstructure of the laterite became less aggregated and more porous and the main phase transformed from goethite to hematite that improved leaching in nitric acid (1.2 kg HNO₃/kg ore); Ni, Co, Fe, and Mg extraction ratios were 95.2%, 98.1%, 1.8% and 15%, respectively, after leaching for 60 min at 200 °C and 500 r/min. Furthermore, in the process of goethite to hematite by microwave pretreatment, the nickel-containing mineral is activated, which makes nickel be leached easily. The leaching process has high Ni extraction ratio compared to that without microwave (82%) and conventional pretreatment (90.4%). Therefore, microwave pretreatment of limonitic laterite before nitric acid pressure leaching is an effective way to improve the selectivity and extraction of the leach.

Keywords

limonitic laterite ore / microwave pretreatment / nitric acid pressure leaching / Ni / Co

References

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