Work

Sustainable valorization of lateritic nickel tailings: Valuable metals recovery and gas-purifying materials fabrication

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: • Na 2 CO 3 -assisted reduction achieves excellent Fe metallization from HPAL residue. • Hierarchical porous adsorbent from hydrothermal treatment shows high gas uptake. • Closed-loop recycling enables full-component utilization of HPLA residue. The massive generation of acidic iron-rich residue from high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) of laterite nickel ore presents serious environmental and waste management challenges. This study develops an integrated pyro-hydrometallurgical process for the full-component recovery and upcycling of such residues. Key findings demonstrate that reduction roasting with Na 2 CO 3 enables production of high-grade iron concentrate (95.2 % Fe), while alkaline hydrothermal treatment of tailings facilitates extraction of Ca, Al, and Na, and concurrently converts silicon residues into hierarchically porous adsorbents. These adsorbents exhibit excellent gas adsorption performance (up to 5.49 mmol/g for NO) and selectivity in gas separation. The process is technically validated through pilot-scale trials, offering a sustainable strategy for transforming hazardous HPAL residues into high-value products.

Source: Results in Engineering

DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108496

Authors: Jun Luo, Shuai Liu, Dayong Sun, Changye Mang, Mingjun Rao, Guanghui Li

Institutions: Central South University, Changsha Mining and Metallurgy Research Institute (China)

Language: English

Topic: Extraction and Separation Processes

Subfield: Mechanical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,940