Abstract
Many studies have investigated methods of recovering valuable metals from sea nodules. Recently, a research group in Japan developed a smelting and chlorine process after investigating a variety of existing processes and comparing their respective efficiencies with the same nodules. The best results were obtained by combining pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical treatments, which enabled the efficient recovery of manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt. High-purity nickel can be also produced through further solvent extraction.
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Kohga, T., Imamura, M., Takahashi, J. et al. Recovering iron, manganese, copper, cobalt, and high-purity nickel from sea nodules. JOM 47, 40–43 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03221339
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03221339