Recovery of nickel from wastes

A method of improving the nickel content of ferronickel obtained from ores containing nickel and iron which comprises

• (a) oxidizing amixture of spent nickel catalyst and the ore containing nickel and iron at an elevated temperature,
• (b) heating the mixture at a temperature sufficient to melt the oxidized ore and nickel catalyst
• (c) adding a reducing agent to the melt,
• (d) vigorously mixing the melt and reducing agent whereby ferronickel is formed, and
• (e) recovering the ferronickel.

A method of improving the recovery of ferronickel from ores containing nickel and iron utilizing spent nickel catalysts containing fuel values which comprises

• (a) advancing and oxidizing the ore in a multiple hearth oxidizing furnace at an elevated temperature,
• (b) feeding the spent nickel catalyst into the furnace at about the mid point of the advancement of the ore through the multiple hearth furnace whereby the fuel values of the catalyst are used to raise or maintain the temperature within the furnace and any oxidizable nickel in the catalyst is oxidized to nickel oxide,
• (c) removing the oxidized ore and catalyst mixture from the furnace,
• (d) melting the oxidized mixture,
• (e) subjecting the melted mixture to reducing conditions to form ferronickel, and
• (f) recovering the ferronickel.