Nickel (Ni) is a chemical element, a ferromagnetic metal in Group 10 (VIIIb) of the periodic table, notable for its high resistance to oxidation and corrosion. It has a relatively high melting point of 1,453 °C (2,647 °F) and a face-centred cubic crystal structure, giving it good ductility. Nickel is essential to modern technology because it improves the stability of the protective oxide film that provides corrosion resistance in stainless steels. Nickel processing involves preparing the metal for use in various products. The extraction of nickel from ore is similar to that of copper, using similar processes and equipment. The specific processes depend on whether the ore is a sulfide or a laterite.

Where is nickel found in nature?

Nickel is found in nature in two main types of ore deposits: sulfide and laterite. Sulfide deposits are often mined using underground techniques, while laterite deposits are extracted through open-pit methods. Nickel is sparingly found as a pure element with iron in terrestrial and meteoric deposits. Nickel-bearing minerals include: * Pentlandite Found with nickel-bearing pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite * Garnierite A magnesium-nickel silicate that is the richest in nickel * Nickeliferous limonite A major component of laterites These minerals are commonly located in countries such as China, Russia, Japan, Australia, and Canada. During the extraction process, nickel ores are transformed into dinickel trisulfide, then roasted in the air to produce nickel oxide, which is reduced with carbon to obtain the metal.

How is nickel typically mined from the earth?

Nickel mining methods vary depending on the type of orebody being mined. Sulfide deposits are typically mined using underground techniques, similar to copper mining, though some are mined using open-pit methods early on. Laterite deposits are surface-mined using large earth-moving equipment such as shovels, draglines, or front-end loaders to extract the nickel-rich layers, discarding waste material and large boulders. The ore is then loaded into trucks and transported to a smelter. After mining, nickel extraction from the ore involves processes like crushing, grinding, and selective flotation to liberate nickel minerals. The specific processes depend on whether the ore is a sulfide or a laterite.

What are the main steps to process nickel ore into usable nickel metal?

The process of extracting nickel from its ore depends on whether the ore is a sulfide or a laterite.

What equipment or chemicals are often used in nickel processing plants?

Nickel processing plants employ various equipment and chemicals depending on whether they are processing sulfide or laterite ores . Nickel is extracted from sulfide ores through crushing, grinding, and flotation using reagents, along with mechanical and pneumatic devices, and magnetic separators. Smelting requires high-temperature refractories and increased cooling, utilizing flash and bath processes. Sulfuric acid or ammonia is used to leach nickel concentrates. Electrorefining involves electrolytic cells with diaphragm compartments, while carbonyl refining uses carbon monoxide to yield nickel and iron carbonyls. Laterite ores undergo drying in large rotary-kiln furnaces before reduction to nickel metal in electric furnaces operating at high temperatures. Some plants add sulfur to produce a furnace matte, while most laterite smelters produce a crude ferronickel. Chemical compounds such as nickel sulfate hexahydrate (NiSO_4 \cdot 6H_2O), nickel chloride hexahydrate (NiCl_2 \cdot 6H_2O), nickel sulfamate (Ni(SO_3NH_2) \cdot 4H_2O), and nickel fluoborate (Ni(BF_4)_2) are used in electroplating baths. Other compounds include nickel dimethylglyoxime, nickel carbonyl (Ni(CO)_4), nickel subsulfide (Ni_3S_2), and nickel oxide (NiO).

How is the processed nickel used in everyday products or industries?

Processed nickel is used in numerous everyday products and industries due to its strength, ductility, and resistance to corrosion. Nickel is a key ingredient in stainless steel , used widely for kitchenware and construction . It is alloyed with copper to create cupronickel , which is used for coins . Nickel is also essential in electronics , jewelry , and for catalyzing hydrogenation in the production of shortening and soaps .

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Top Questions

What is nickel?
Nickel (Ni) is a chemical element, a ferromagnetic metal in Group 10 (VIIIb) of the periodic table, notable for its high resistance to oxidation and corrosion. It has a relatively high melting point of 1,453 °C (2,647 °F) and a face-centred cubic crystal structure, giving it good ductility. Nickel is essential to modern technology because it improves the stability of the protective oxide film that provides corrosion resistance in stainless steels.

Nickel processing involves preparing the metal for use in various products. The extraction of nickel from ore is similar to that of copper, using similar processes and equipment. The specific processes depend on whether the ore is a sulfide or a laterite.
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Where is nickel found in nature?
Nickel is found in nature in two main types of ore deposits: sulfide and laterite. Sulfide deposits are often mined using underground techniques, while laterite deposits are extracted through open-pit methods. Nickel is sparingly found as a pure element with iron in terrestrial and meteoric deposits.

Nickel-bearing minerals include:
* Pentlandite Found with nickel-bearing pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite
* Garnierite A magnesium-nickel silicate that is the richest in nickel
* Nickeliferous limonite A major component of laterites

These minerals are commonly located in countries such as China, Russia, Japan, Australia, and Canada. During the extraction process, nickel ores are transformed into dinickel trisulfide, then roasted in the air to produce nickel oxide, which is reduced with carbon to obtain the metal.
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How is nickel typically mined from the earth?
Nickel mining methods vary depending on the type of orebody being mined. Sulfide deposits are typically mined using underground techniques, similar to copper mining, though some are mined using open-pit methods early on. Laterite deposits are surface-mined using large earth-moving equipment such as shovels, draglines, or front-end loaders to extract the nickel-rich layers, discarding waste material and large boulders. The ore is then loaded into trucks and transported to a smelter.

After mining, nickel extraction from the ore involves processes like crushing, grinding, and selective flotation to liberate nickel minerals. The specific processes depend on whether the ore is a sulfide or a laterite.
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What are the main steps to process nickel ore into usable nickel metal?
The process of extracting nickel from its ore depends on whether the ore is a sulfide or a laterite.

Nickel Processing from Sulfide Ores
1. The sulfide ores undergo crushing and grinding to liberate nickel minerals. The ore is mixed with reagents, and air bubbles are produced using mechanical and pneumatic devices. The sulfide particles stick to the bubbles and are gathered as a concentrate containing 6 to 12 percent nickel.
2. The nickel concentrates may be leached with sulfuric acid or ammonia, or they may be dried and smelted in flash and bath processes. Smelting requires high temperatures to produce a matte containing 25 to 45 percent nickel.
3. The iron in the matte is converted to an oxide and combined with a silica flux to form a slag that is drawn off, leaving a matte of 70–75% nickel.
4. The matte is processed using ammonia pressure leach, or it may be roasted to produce high-grade nickel oxides. These are subjected to a pressure leach, and the solution is electro- and carbonyl refined.
Nickel Processing from Laterite Ores
1. Laterite ores necessitate drying to remove moisture and chemically bound water in large rotary-kiln furnaces.
2. The oxide is reduced to nickel metal in electric furnaces.
3. The majority of laterite smelters produce a crude ferronickel, which is refined to remove impurities and is marketed as an alloying agent in steel manufacture.
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What equipment or chemicals are often used in nickel processing plants?
Nickel processing plants employ various equipment and chemicals depending on whether they are processing sulfide or laterite ores.

Nickel is extracted from sulfide ores through crushing, grinding, and flotation using reagents, along with mechanical and pneumatic devices, and magnetic separators. Smelting requires high-temperature refractories and increased cooling, utilizing flash and bath processes. Sulfuric acid or ammonia is used to leach nickel concentrates. Electrorefining involves electrolytic cells with diaphragm compartments, while carbonyl refining uses carbon monoxide to yield nickel and iron carbonyls.

Laterite ores undergo drying in large rotary-kiln furnaces before reduction to nickel metal in electric furnaces operating at high temperatures. Some plants add sulfur to produce a furnace matte, while most laterite smelters produce a crude ferronickel.

Chemical compounds such as nickel sulfate hexahydrate (NiSO_4 \cdot 6H_2O), nickel chloride hexahydrate (NiCl_2 \cdot 6H_2O), nickel sulfamate (Ni(SO_3NH_2) \cdot 4H_2O), and nickel fluoborate (Ni(BF_4)_2) are used in electroplating baths. Other compounds include nickel dimethylglyoxime, nickel carbonyl (Ni(CO)_4), nickel subsulfide (Ni_3S_2), and nickel oxide (NiO).
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1. nickel processing: From sulfide ores
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How is the processed nickel used in everyday products or industries?
Processed nickel is used in numerous everyday products and industries due to its strength, ductility, and resistance to corrosion.

Nickel is a key ingredient in stainless steel, used widely for kitchenware and construction. It is alloyed with copper to create cupronickel, which is used for coins. Nickel is also essential in electronics, jewelry, and for catalyzing hydrogenation in the production of shortening and soaps.
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nickel processing, preparation of the metal for use in various products.

Although it is best known for its use in coinage, nickel (Ni) has become much more important for its many industrial applications, which owe their importance to a unique combination of properties. Nickel has a relatively high melting point of 1,453 °C (2,647 °F) and a face-centred cubic crystal structure, which gives the metal good ductility. Nickel alloys exhibit a high resistance to corrosion in a wide variety of media and have the ability to withstand a range of high and low temperatures. In stainless steels, nickel improves the stability of the protective oxide film that provides corrosion resistance. Its major contribution is in conjunction with chromium in austenitic stainless steels, in which nickel enables the austenitic structure to be retained at room temperature. Modern technology is heavily dependent on these materials, which form a vital part of the chemical, petrochemical, power, and related industries.

History

Nickel was used industrially as an alloying metal almost 2,000 years before it was isolated and recognized as a new element. As early as 200 bce the Chinese made substantial amounts of a white alloy from zinc and a copper-nickel ore found in Yunnan province. The alloy, known as pai-t’ung, was exported to the Middle East and even to Europe.

Later, miners in Saxony encountered what appeared to be a copper ore but found that processing it yielded only a useless slaglike material. They considered it bewitched and ascribed it to the devil, “Old Nick.” Thus, it became known as kupfernickel (Old Nick’s copper). It was from this ore, studied by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, that nickel was isolated and recognized as a new element in 1751. In 1776 it was established that pai-t’ung, now called nickel-silver, was composed of copper, nickel, and zinc.

Demand for nickel-silver was stimulated in England about 1844 by the development of silver electroplating, for which it was found to be the most desirable base. The use of pure nickel as a corrosion-resistant electroplated coating developed a little later; both these uses are still important.

Small amounts of nickel were produced in Germany in the mid-19th century. More substantial amounts came from Norway, and a little came from a mine at Gap, Pennsylvania, in the United States. A new source, New Caledonia in the South Pacific, came into production about 1877 and dominated until the development of the copper-nickel ores of the Copper Cliff–Sudbury, Ontario, region in Canada, which after 1905 became the world’s largest source of nickel. By the late 1970s, production in Soviet Russia had exceeded that in Canada. By the early 21st century, China had become the world leader in nickel production, followed by Russia, Japan, Australia, and Canada.

Ores

Sulfides

Canadian ores are sulfides containing nickel, copper, and iron. The most important nickel mineral is pentlandite, (Ni, Fe)₉S₈, followed by pyrrhotite, usually ranging from FeS to Fe₇S₈, in which some of the iron may be replaced by nickel. Chalcopyrite, CuFeS₂, is the dominant copper mineral in these ores, with small amounts of another copper mineral, cubanite, CuFe₂S₃. Some gold, silver, and the six platinum-group metals also are present, and their recovery is important. Cobalt, selenium, tellurium, and sulfur may be recovered from the ores as well.

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Laterites

Other important classes of ore are the laterites, which are the result of long weathering of peridotite initially containing a small percentage of nickel. Weathering in subtropical climates removes a major portion of the host rock, but the contained nickel dissolves and percolates downward and may reach a concentration sufficiently high to make mining economical. Because of this method of formation, laterite deposits are found near the surface as a soft, frequently claylike material, with nickel concentrated in strata as a result of weathering. Garnierite, (NiMg)₆Si₄O₁₀(OH)₈, a nickel-magnesium silicate, is the richest in nickel, but nickeliferous limonite, (Fe, Ni)O(OH)·nH₂O, constitutes a major portion of the laterites. The New Caledonian deposits are of the garnierite type, and numerous other laterite deposits are scattered around the world, presenting a wide range of mining, transport, and recovery problems. The nickel content of laterites varies widely: at Le Nickel in New Caledonia, for example, the ore delivered to the smelter in 1900 contained 9 percent nickel; currently it contains 1 to 3 percent.

Mining

With nickel found in two radically different types of ore, it is not surprising that the mining methods differ. Sulfide deposits are usually mined by underground techniques in a manner similar to copper, although some deposits have been mined using open pits in the early stages. The mining of laterites is basically an earth-moving operation, with large shovels, draglines, or front-end loaders extracting the nickel-rich strata and discarding large boulders and waste material. The ore is loaded into trucks at the face, as would be the case in an open pit, and hauled to the smelter.

nickel processing