KULIAH-4 Chen- Ni Laterite-short Version

7/26/2019 KULIAH-4 Chen- Ni Laterite-short Version

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Mineralogical Characterization

of Nickel Laterites from New

Caledonia and Indonesia

T.T. Chen1, J.E. Dutrizac1, E. Krause2

and R. Osborne2

1CANMET, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario2Inco Technical Services Limited, Mississauga, Ontario


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Nickel lateri tes

Nickel laterite ores were formed by tropicalweathering of precursor (terutama)

ultramafic rocks.

The ores are generally divided into twotypes: limoniticand saprolitic.

Some ores formed in situ, whereas otherswere transported and deposited in locations

removed from their precursor sites.


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New CaledoniaPrincipal Nickel Laterite Deposits

LEGEND

Residual Nickel Deposit

Sedimentary Nickel Deposit

Ultramafic

Nepoui

Me Maoya

Tene Bourail

Tontouta

NOUMEAPernod

Moneo

Poro

Louaoua

Nakety

Thio

Quinne

Yate

Goro

Tchingou

Koniambo

Etoile du Nord

Tiebaghi

Poum

PdL

Prony


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IndonesiaPrincipal Nickel Laterite Deposits

500km

WEDA BAY

SULAWESI

KALIMANTAN

SERAWAK

PNG

IRIAN JAYA

HALMAHERA

SUMATRA

TIMOR

GEBE

OBISOROWAKO

BAHODOPI

POMALAA

GAG

WAIGEO

SENTANI


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Samp les s tud ied

The samples studied are typical wet nickel

laterites of humid rain forests. They are grab

samples obtained from Inco operations:

Pilot plant autoclave test feed of Goro laterite,New Caledonia (limonitic, in-situ type). Plaine des Lacs (PDL) sedimentary material,

New Caledonia (limonitic, transported type). Reduction rotary kiln feed from PT Inco (PTI)

Sorowako, Indonesia (saprolitic, in-situ type).


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Experimental

The as-received Goro sample was driedat~35oC for two weeks. Drying resulted in the

agglomeration of the materials.

Grindingthe as-received dried PTI reductionkiln feed to


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Chem ical analyses (w t %)

Goro PT Inco

Ni 1.73 1.99Co 0.11 0.05

Fe 41.1 20.7Mg 2.73 10.1Si 5.11 14.6

Al 2.57 1.66Mn 0.68 0.36Cr 1.73 0.80

CO3 0.66 -


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Goro Nickel New Caledonia


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Goro laterite. 1- (Cr,Al,Mg,Fe)3O4, 2- goethite, 3- serpentine,

4- gibbsite, 5- fine-grained matrix


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Goro laterite. 1- goethite, 2- serpentine, 3- goethite,

4- quartz, 5- (Cr,Al,Mg,Fe)3O4


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Goro later i te

Approximately two-thirds of the particlesare


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Goro later i te

Major- goethite FeOOH. Minor- lizardite Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 (serpentine),

talc Mg3Si4O10(OH)2, gibbsite Al(OH)3,Cr-spinel (Cr,Al,Mg,Fe)3O4 andMn oxide.

Trace- magnetite, chlorite Mg-Fe-Al silicate,forsterite Mg2SiO4(olivine), amphibole Ca-

Mg-Fe silicate, enstatite MgSiO3(pyroxene),

quartz and silica SiO2.nH2O.


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Goro laterite. 1- grey serpentine, 2- dark serpentine,

3- Mn-Ni-Fe oxide, 4- serpentine, 5- goethite


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Goro laterite. 1- Mn oxide, 2- goethite, 3- serpentine,

4- Fe-Mn-Al oxide


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Goro laterite. 1- forsterite, 2- serpentine, 3- quartz, 4-

goethite, 5- siderite, 6- enstatite, 7- gibbsite, 8- magnetite


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Approximate average compositions of the Ni-carriersin Goro laterite, as determined by electron

microprobe analyses (wt %)

Goethite Greyserpentine

Darkserpentine

Mnoxide

Magnetite Chlorite

Ni 1.5 1.7 2.0 10.2 0.15 0.7

Fe 47.8 6.1 6.1 7.5 68.6 5.0Mg 0.6 21.1 14.1 0.6 0.3 17.1Al 2.9 0.4 1.4 4.3 0.1 8.2Cr 0.8 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.4Mn 0.4 0.1 0.1 23.0 0.3 ndCo 0.1 nd nd 4.1 0.4 ndSi 1.6 17.7 14.7 0.5 0.1 13.9

nd- below detection limit (Mn 600-700 ppm, Co 550-600ppm, Ni 550-600 ppm). Serpentine Mg2-3Si2O5(OH)4.nH2O


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P.T. Inco Sorowako East Block


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PT Inco reduc t ion k i ln feed

The material consists of a mixtureof twoprinciple ores (a unserpentinized ore and a

variably serpentinized ore), together with asmall amount of recycledconverter material

and kiln dust.

The ore is saprolitic, containing dominantamounts of Mg silicate and Mg-Fe silicate

minerals.


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PT Inco reduct ion k i ln feed

The ore still contains significant quantities of theprecursor mineralsolivine, pyroxene and

amphibole.

Most of the particles exhibit complex alterationtextures. Mineral species and Ni contents vary

from particle to particle.

Because the coarser-grained particles had beenground prior to study, the particle sizes shown in

this study do not necessarily represent the ore.


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PTI reduction kiln feed. 1- enstatite, 2- Ca-Mg silicate, 3-

serpentine, 4- Mg-Ca-Al silicate (amphibole), 5- goethite, 6-

(Al,Cr,Fe,Mg)3O4, 7- Mg-Fe-Al silicate (chlorite)


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PTI reduction kiln feed. 1- olivine, 2- diopside, 3- Mg silicate,

4- chlorite, 5- goethite, 6- serpentine, 7- Fe oxide, 8- spheroid


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PT Inco reduct ion ki ln feed

Major- serpentine.

Minorto trace- goethite, Cr-spinel, chlorite,talc, amphibole, pyroxene (enstatite,

diopside), Mn oxide, various Fe-Mg-Al

silicates, Fe-Mg-Ni-Si-O spheroids (recycledprocess material), olivine, magnetite and

quartz.


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PTI reduction kiln feed. 1- grey serpentine (1.8-2.0% Ni), 2-

dark serpentine- (2.1-3.0% Ni), 3- goethite (0.4% Ni), 4-

goethite (0.3-0.5% Ni), 5- goethite (1.0-2.1% Ni), 6- forsterite0.2% Ni 7- Mn oxide 13.8% Ni 8- enstatite no Ni


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PTI reduction kiln feed. 1- (Cr,Fe)3O4(no Ni), 2-

(Cr,Fe,Al,Mg)3O4(0.17% Ni), 3- Fe3O4(1.1% Ni), 4- serpentine

(1.2-2.7% Ni), 5- goethite (1.4% Ni), 6- spheroid (1.2% Ni in Mg-

Fe silicate and 2.3% Ni in Fe oxide), 7- NiFe2O4, 8- Mn oxide

(9.6% Ni)


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PTI reduction kiln feed. 1- goethite (0.3-0.4% Ni), 2- grey

serpentine (1.5% Ni), 3- dark serpentine (2.2% Ni), 4- dark

serpentine (4.9% Ni), 5- goethite (1.9-2.0% Ni), 6- Mn oxide

(16.3-17.3% Ni)


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Approximate average compositions of the Ni-carriersin the PTI reduction kiln feed, as determined by

electron microprobe analyses (wt %)

Greyserpentine

Darkserpentine

Forsterite(olivine)

Fayalite(olivine)

Fe-Mgsilicate

Ni 1.2 2.2 0.3 2.2 1.6Fe 5.4 5.2 7.3 41.1 13.7Mg 23.1 17.0 32.6 5.8 7.6Al 0.5 1.0 nd 2.5 0.5Mn nd nd 0.1 0.5 0.1

Co nd nd nd nd ndSi 18.5 15.0 19.4 11.9 22.9

nd- below detection limits (in ppm): Al 600, Mn 600-700,Co 550-600. Serpentine Mg2-3Si2O5(OH)4.nH2O


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Approximate average compositions of the Ni-carriersin the PTI reduction kiln feed, as determined by

electron microprobe analyses (wt %)

Goethite Magnetite Mn oxide Chlorite Spheroids

Ni 1.4 1.1 15.3 0.9 1.5Fe 52.8 69.0 7.9 5.7 33.9

Mg 1.5 0.4 1.6 18.9 9.5Al 2.0 nd 1.5 4.2 2.4Cr 0.4 0.3 nd 0.8 0.5Mn 0.6 0.3 27.3 0.1 0.5

Co nd 0.2 2.3 nd ndSi 3.2 0.1 2.1 15.2 13.8

nd- below detection limit (Al 600 ppm, Cr 600 ppm,Co 550-600 ppm).


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Conclus ions

The samples studied are from typical wetnickel laterites of humid rain forests.

The Goro ore is limonitic, in-situ type. Goro oreis fine-grained (mostly


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Conclus ions

The PTI ore is saprolitic and show complexalteration textures. The ore is rich in Mg

silicate, Mg-Fe silicates and goethite. Nickel in the PTI ore is present mainly in

serpentine, olivine, chlorite, goethite and Mn

oxide. The Ni contents vary from particle toparticle.

Cobalt is detected in the Mn oxide.


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Mineralogical Characterization

of Nickel Laterites from New

Caledonia and Indonesia

T.T. Chen1, J.E. Dutrizac1, E. Krause2

and R. Osborne2

1CANMET, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario2Inco Technical Services Limited, Mississauga, Ontario

Documents

KULIAH-4 Chen- Ni Laterite-short Version