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Phase chemical composition of slag from a direct nickel flash furnace and associated slag cleaning furnace

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Abstract

During the recovery of base metals from the Bushveld Igneous Complex ores, South Africa, a two-stage process is used to ensure complete recovery of nickel from the ore. A nickel flash smelting furnace is initially used to obtain the valuable metal but the loss of nickel in the slag amounts to about 4 % and thus an electric slag-cleaning furnace has to be subsequently used to reduce the loss of the valuable metal to less than 0.5 % nickel oxide in the slag. The Fe2 + /Fe3 +  ratio and mineralogy in the two different furnaces differ and can be used as a tool to determine the efficiency of the nickel recovered in the two-stage process. By means of XRD, SEM/EDS and Mössbauer spectroscopy the Fe2 + /Fe3 +  ratio and the amount of magnetite was determined in each furnace, which was then used as an indicator of the effectiveness of the whole process.

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References

  1. http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nickel/mcs-2011. Accessed date: 5 June 2012

  2. Warner, A.E.M., Diaz, C.M., Dalvi, A.D., Mackey, P.J., Tarasov, A.V., Jones, R.T.: JOM world non ferrous smelter survey part IV: nickel: sulfide. J. Met. 58–72 (2007)

  3. Stevens, J.G., Khasanov, A.M., Miller, J.W., Pollak, H., Li, Z. (eds.) In: Mössbauer Mineral Handbook, p. 527. Mössbauer Effect Data Centre, University of North Carolina, Asheville, USA (1998)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical and Minerals Engineering, North-West University, Potchefstroom, 2530, South Africa

    F. B. Waanders

  2. Hatch, Private bag X20, Gallo Manor, Johannesburg, 2052, South Africa

    J. Nell

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  1. F. B. Waanders
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  2. J. Nell
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Correspondence to F. B. Waanders.

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Waanders, F.B., Nell, J. Phase chemical composition of slag from a direct nickel flash furnace and associated slag cleaning furnace. Hyperfine Interact 218, 101–105 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-012-0699-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-012-0699-z

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