http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5512-5850
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ABSTRACT
Canadian nickel-copper ore deposits have been a major source of nickel, copper, cobalt and precious metals for more than 120 years. The two main minerals of interest, pentlandite (Pn, (Ni,Fe)9S8) and chalcopyrite (Cp, CuFeS2), are usually accompanied by large quantities of pyrrhotite (Po, Fe1-xS). Until the 1950s, Po containing small amounts of nickel was routinely smelted as part of the valuable Ni concentrate. The rapid growth in Ni demand following World War II created impetus to treat the Po separately. This action would liberate a valuable smelting capacity for higher value Pn and recover Ni, Fe, S and energy. The Ni industry would then have a more sustainable process. Both Inco (now Vale) and Falconbridge (now Glencore) developed processes and built large industrial plants for this purpose that operated with some success. But technical issues and tenuous economics were continual challenges. By the early 1980s, these industrial operations were closed and Po containing up to 1%Ni became a waste material reporting to the tailings stream. As part of a major study on possible processing methods of Po for both value recovery and waste remediation, this paper presents a historical perspective on Canadian Po tailings with regard to their inventory.
RÉSUMÉ
Les dépôts canadiens de minerai de nickel et cuivre ont constitué une source majeure de nickel, de cuivre, de cobalt, et de métaux précieux pour plus de 120 ans. Les deux principaux minéraux d’intérêt, la pentlandite (Pn, (Ni,Fe)9S8 et la chalcopyrite (Cp, CuFeS2), sont habituellement accompagnés de grandes quantités de pyrrhotite (Po, Fe1-xS). Jusque dans les années 1950, la Po contenant de petites quantités de nickel était fondue de façon routinière comme une partie du concentré de valeur du Ni. La croissance rapide de la demande en Ni, suite à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, a créé un élan pour le traitement séparé de la Po. Cette action libérerait une capacité importante de fusion pour la Pn, à valeur plus élevée, permettrait la récupération du Ni bloqué dans la Po, convertirait le fer en oxyde de fer ou en boulettes de fer métallique, et récupérerait le S en acide sulfurique ou en soufre élémentaire. Le procédé de grillage a le potentiel de produire de l’énergie en raison de l’oxydation hautement exothermique de la Po. L’industrie du Ni aurait ensuite un processus plus durable. Inco (maintenant Vale) et Falconbridge (maintenant Glencore) ont toutes deux développé des processus et construit de grandes installations industrielles pour ce but, qui ont fonctionné avec un certain succès. Cependant, des problèmes techniques et une économie fragile constituaient des défis continus. Au début des années 1980, ces opérations industrielles furent fermées. Des méthodes sophistiquées de flottation par moussage pour le rejet de la Po furent développées, et la Po contenant jusqu’à 1% de Ni est maintenant considérée comme un déchet rejeté dans le flux de résidus. Dans le cadre d’une étude majeure sur les méthodes possibles de transformation de la Po tant pour la récupération de la valeur que pour la réhabilitation des déchets, cet article présente une perspective historique sur les résidus canadiens de Po en ce qui concerne leur production, leur inventaire, leur valeur et les tentatives pour les transformer.
Acknowledgements
This paper presents part of an extensive study on the Canadian pyrrhotite tailings with the aim of evaluating the resource and exploring a novel processing route. The authors are grateful to Roly Bergman as well as staffs of Vale and Glencore (XPS, Strathcona Mill, and Raglan Mines) for providing data, samples of pyrrhotite tailings and useful discussions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Sabereh Rezaei is a Postdoctoral researcher in the Sustainable Materials Processing Research Group at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include development of integrated energy-efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly processes to treat industrial wastes, as well as novel materials for acid gas treatments in process streams. She holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta, participated in the Helmholtz-Alberta-Initiative program and has authored several peer-reviewed articles.
Feng Liu is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Sustainable Materials Processing Research Group at the University of Toronto. His current research interest focuses on the thermal treatment of nickeliferous pyrrhotite, and he used to work on valorization of industrial slag and municipal solid waste. He holds a master degree of metallurgical engineering from the University of Science and Technology Beijing.
Sam Marcuson retired from Vale Canada in 2013 where he was Vice President Base Metals Technology Development. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at University of Toronto. His interests include the interface between technology, innovation and business, including sustainability in the resource industry. He is the Chairman of the Historical Metallurgy Committee of Metsoc-CIM and has authored or co-authored a number of papers on twentieth-century development in nickel process metallurgy.
Mika Muinonen is the General Manager of Process Metallurgy at Glencore. He earned his MASc in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Toronto and joined Glencore in 2012 as a Manager of Extractive Metallurgy. Prior to joining Glencore, he had spent 12 years at Vale in various technical roles. He has authored and co-authored a number of papers and patents on nickel process metallurgy development.
V.I. (Lucky) Lakshmanan is the Vice-Chairman and CEO of Process Research ORTECH Inc. He is an internationally renowned scientist, innovator, entrepreneur and teacher in the area of technologies for sustainable development with over 40 years of experience. Dr. Lakshmanan is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, and holds numerous patents.
Ramamritham (Ram) Sridhar is the President of Process Research ORTECH Inc. His expertise includes technology evaluation, development and implementation and providing innovative solutions to plant problems. He has previously served as the section head of pyrometallurgy at INCO, and as Managing Director of Indian Steel Rolling Mills. Dr. Sridhar is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, and holds numerous patents.
Mansoor Barati is Gerald R. Heffernan Chair and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. His research is centered on reducing the environmental footprint, and consumption of energy and resources in the metals industry, as well as development of high-quality materials for renewable energy systems. He joined the University of Toronto after one year at WorleyParsons and established the Sustainable Materials Processing Research Lab where over 80 researchers have worked in the past 10 years. He has 150 publications and has been recognized with many awards such as CMQ Best paper award, JOM best paper award, and Bicomacombe award.