FROM MINE TO SALEABLE PRODUCT: A FEASIBILITY FRAMEWORK FOR ATMOSPHERIC LEACHING OF NICKEL LATERITES - A CRITICAL REVIEW

Résumé fourni par la source

Atmospheric acid leaching of nickel laterites is frequently judged by reactor extraction, although investment decisions require an auditable boundary from ore definition to a saleable, on-spec product. This structured critical narrative review evaluates 100 references, centered on 2020-2026 and supplemented by foundational and downstream studies, to integrate mineralogy, mining and blending, beneficiation, leach chemistry, solid-liquid separation, purification, Ni-Co recovery, utilities, residues, capital and operating costs, and economic risk. Evidence was coded once by its primary engineering role; batch experiments accounted for 52% of the corpus, whereas no fully integrated continuous laboratory campaign was identified in the reviewed corpus. The principal contribution is the integration of established engineering relationships into a ten-step feasibility architecture supported by five compact synthesis tables and three decision figures. Feed selection is based on metallurgical and economic ore value rather than nickel grade alone. Overall Ni and Co recovery is calculated separately to a product-in-inventory accounting boundary, defined as saleable product physically present in inventory after finishing. Stoichiometric acid demand is distinguished from operational consumption, and project progression is controlled by evidence-maturity and decision gates. The framework is intended to prevent route selection from being driven by maximum extraction alone and to expose the ore, process, environmental, and economic conditions under which atmospheric leaching remains competitive.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.