Lateritic Nickel and Cobalt Recovery Routes: Strategic Technologies

Abstract

ABSTRACT The global movement toward the pillars of a circular economy has restructured the entire chain of the primary production sector. Together, increases in the consumption of critical metals and in the price of high-grade mineral raw materials have encouraged the adoption of separation and treatment technologies that are adaptable to variations in the metallic values of lateritic ores deposits. Thus, this work aims to provide an overview of the conventional and potential technologies employed in the extraction and treatment processes of lateritic ores for the primary production of nickel and cobalt. Hydrometallurgical methods are predominantly used to extract target metals from laterite ores, while precipitation and solvent extraction processes are conventional separation techniques employed to concentrate the leached liquors. However, current processes are associated with high consumption of chemicals, increasing the rate of waste generation and the level of toxicity of operations. Alternative extraction routes should be explored, involving the use of combined methods to pyro-hydrometallurgy, stimulating the association of separation techniques, aiming to combine technical, economic, and environmental feasibility with the production of lateritic nickel and cobalt. Strategically, a Ni and Co recovery route was structured, based on conventional processes and including the use of alternative raw materials, such as refining by-products, to meet the demands for selective and sustainable recovery of marketable metals in the conservative and demanding industry of mining.