Ore treatment involving a halo-metallization process

In a roasting process for the treatment of nickel or cobalt oxide ore wherein such ore is heated together with a solid carbonaceous reducing agent and a halide effective to cause the metal content of such ore to transfer from the gangue and deposit as metal on such solid carbonaceous reducing agent;

• the improvement comprising adding finely divided metallic iron with such solid carbonaceous reducing agent, and depositing such metal on such reducing agent in close association with such iron.

A halometallization process for the treatment of lateritic nickel ore which comprises coarsely grinding said ore to reduce the ore to particles of suitable size, adding to the ground ore a solid reducing agent and a metal chloride, said reducing agent comprising metallic iron as at least one component, heating the mixture of ore, chloride and reducing agent at a temperature of from about 700.degree. to 1200.degree. C. to cause the nickel of said ore to transfer from the gangue and deposit as metal on such solid reducing agent, and thereafter separating said nickel and iron from the gangue by a magnetic separation technique.

A process for the recovery of nickel which comprises admixing particulate nickeliferous-laterite ore, a particulate chloride-containing material and a magnetic iron-containing material of particulate iron to provide an intimate admixture consisting of said materials, roasting said intimate admixture at a temperature to effect solely an in situ reaction between the bound nickel in the nickeliferous ore and the chloride-containing material to form nickel chloride and, substantially simultaneously with the formation thereof, reduction of the nickel chloride to nickel by the magnetic iron-containing material, and recovering metallic nickel from the roasted mixture.

The process for the recovery of nickel which comprises calcining a nickeliferous-laterite ore to remove at least a substantial portion of the free water and combined water therefrom, admixing said calcined ore in particulate form, a particulate chloride-containing material and a magnetic iron-containing material of particulate iron to provide an intimate admixture consisting of said materials, roasting said admixture at a high temperature to effect solely an in situ reaction between the bound nickel in te nickeliferous ore and the chloride-containing material to form nickel chloride and, substantially simultaneously with the formation thereof, reduction of the nickel chloride to nickel by the iron-containing material, and recovering metallic nickel from said roasted mixture.