Laterites are valuable European sources to produce the critical battery metals cobalt, nickel, and manganese. In this study the wet-chemical leaching of pyrometallurgically treated laterites from the LARCO Ferronickel Plant in Greece was tested. It was shown that leaching with peroxydisulfate at 50°C allows to almost fully recover residual amounts of Co, Ni, and Mn from the rotary kiln dust and electric arc furnace (EAF) slag. The results of this study shows that EAF treatment followed by leaching the EAF slag is the most promising way. In sum, there were obtained ~ 65% overall yield of Co, ~95% overall yield Ni and ~100 % overall yield of Mn. In addition, up to 37% of chromium were mobilized and 98% of titanium, rendering this approach highly promising in terms of energy and resource efficiency and likewise overall process economy. As the successful development and application of this method in the field can increase the outcome of the plant by nearly ~50 million €/year.
[1] S. P. Tampouris, K. A. Komnitsas “Future Trends in World Nickel Production and Consumption”, conference in RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION, 2023, Technical University of Crete, Chania | Crete – GREECE, 26 – 29 September 2023
[2] S. Sadeghi, S. Riaño, K. Binnemans, S. Tampouris, V. Chipakwe “HCl- based leaching method for extracting Ni/Co from ore deposits and tailings” 2nd International Conference on Raw Materials and Circular Economy, Athens, Greece 28 Aug – 2 Sep 2023.
[3] M. Bertau, D. Anguera-Sempere, 2020. Process for leaching metal-bearing ores by means of electrochemically produced leaching solution. German Patent DE102021115850.
[4] O.E. Roshdy, E.A. Haggag, A M. Masoud, M. Bertau, N. Haneklaus, S. Pavón, A. E.M. Hussein, Y.M. Khawassek, M.H. Taha, 2023. Leaching of rare earths from Abu Tartur (Egypt) phosphate rock with phosphoric acid. J. Mater. Cycles Waste Manag. 25, 501-517. (DOI: 10.1007/s10163-022-01558-8)
[5] K. Karalis, C. Zografidis, A. Xenidis, S. Tabouris, E. Devlin, “Contribution to the energy optimization in the pyrometallurgical treatment of Greek nickeliferous laterites”, TMS 2012 141st Annual Meeting & Exhibition, March 11 - 15, 2012, Orlando, Florida.
[6] E.N. Zevgolis, S.C. Livanou and S.P. Tampouris. ‘Nickel recovery from metallurgical slags’, 44th Annual Conference of Metallurgists of CIM held in conjunction with the 35th Annual Hydrometallurgy Meeting, Vol. Nickel and Cobalt 2005 Challenges in Extraction and Production, August 21 – 24, 2005, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
[7] A. Eljoudiani, C. Hoffmann Sampaio, J. Oliva Moncunill, P. Alfonso, H. Anticoi, M. Medeiros Veras, and S. Tampouris “Characterization of lateritic tailings from Greece for critical metals recovery”. 11th International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management, June 19-22, 2024, Rhodes Island, Greece.
[8] S. Pavón, N. Haneklaus, Kim Meerbach, Martin Bertau, 2022. Iron(III) removal and rare earth element recovery from a synthetic wet phosphoric acid solution using solvent extraction. Min. Eng. 182, 107569.
[9] S. P. Tampouris, K. Binnemans “A novel leaching approach for the treatment of LARCO Ferronickel plant dust samples” 11th International Conference on Environmental Management, Engineering, Planning and Economics (CEMEPE 2023) and SECOTOX Conference, June 16-20, 2024, Lefkada Island, Greece.
[10] Gabb, J., 2018. HPAL: Upping the Pressure. In: Global Mining Research.
[11] S. Pavón, D. Kaiser, M. Bertau, 2021. Recovery of Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Ni from spent LIBs after Li selective separation by the COOL-Process – Part 2: Solvent extraction from sulphate leaching solution. Chem. Ing. Tech. 93, 1840-1850. (DOI: 10.1002/cite.202100101)
[12] D. Kaiser, S. Pavón, M. Bertau (2021) Recovery of Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Ni from spent LIBs after Li selective separation by the COOL-Process – Part 1: Leaching of solid residue from COOL-Process. Chem. Ing. Tech. 93, 1833-1839. (DOI: 10.1002/cite.202100098)
[13] Stanković S., Stopić S., Sokić M., et al, 2020. Review of the past, present, and future of the hydrometallurgical production of nickel and cobalt from lateritic ores. Metallurg. Mat. Eng. 26, 199–208.
[14] S. Pavón, T. Lorenz, A. Fortuny, A.M. Sastre, M. Bertau, 2021. Rare earth elements recovery from secondary wastes by solid-state chlorination and selective organic leaching. Waste Managem. 122, 55-63. (DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.12.039)
