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Instructions
Determine the type of ore from which you will be extracting nickel. Both nickel-iron sulfide and nickel silicate, which is also called laterite, are composed of 1 percent to 3 percent nickel. Extraction from nickel-iron sulfide creates more pollution than extracting from laterites. However laterite extraction will require far more energy than sulfide extraction.
Use a flotation chamber when extracting nickel from nickel-iron sulfide. The ore should be crushed and ground in a flotation chamber. Aerated water is added to the crushed ore. The bubbly water will cause the mineral pieces to float to the top of the chamber. In this way the nickel sulfide is concentrated and separated from the gangue.
Place the concentrate in a Bessemer converter. The concentrate should be smelted inside the converter thereby converting the sulfides to oxide form. This smelting will produce a mixture of nickel, copper and other metals, which is called matte, while the gangue is absorbed into the slag and can be removed.
Refine the matte to pure nickel by using eletrolytic or chemical processes. There are a few different options. An ammonia pressure leach can be used to refine the nickel. A high-grade nickel oxide can be produced by roasting, and this can either be electrorefined or carbonyl refined. During electrorefining, nickel is deposited onto nickel cathodes using a sulfate or chloride solution. Carbonyl refining uses carbon monoxide passed through the matte to produce nickel carbonyls and iron carbonyls. Nickel carbonyls is a highly toxic vapor that can be purified onto pure nickel pellets.
Use a pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical process to extract nickel from laterite ores. For the hydrometallurgical process, ammoniacal acid or sulfuric acid is used for leaching the ore. Through nickel precipitation the ore is extracted.
Extract nickel using a pyrometallurgical process by first placing the laterite ore in a rotary kiln. These large kilns dry out the ore and remove the water that is chemically bonded ta the ore. Place the ore in an electric furnace and operate it at 2,480 to 2,930 degrees Fahrenheit. Add carbon.This will produce a nickel-iron matte. It may be used as is. To further refine this matte sulfur is added. This can be either in the form of elemental sulfur or as gypsum. This is added to the kiln and the ore is refined.