Separation of iron from value metals in leaching of laterite ores

A process for the leaching of a laterite ore or concentrate for the recovery of value metals, including iron, cobalt and nickel, comprising the steps of:

• a) subjecting laterite ore or concentrate to a leaching step with a lixiviant comprising hydrochloric acid and magnesium chloride to leach value metals from the laterite ore or concentrate, followed by a liquid/solids separation step to obtain a solution containing value metals, said lixiviant having a maximum of 18% by mass of hydrochloric acid and a chloride content of 50 to 400 g/L, the temperature of the leach being in the range of 40° to 105° C.;
• and
• b) subjecting the solution to solvent extraction with a dialkyl ketone, to obtain a solution rich in iron and a raffinate, said dialkyl ketone having alkyl groups selected from the group consisting of C1-C6 alkyl groups, and subjecting the solution rich in iron to pyrohydrolysis or a hydrothermal process followed by a liquid/solid separation step to obtain a solid containing iron and a solution containing hydrochloric acid and magnesium chloride;
• c) subjecting raffinate from step b) to solvent extraction to obtain a solution rich in cobalt and a second raffinate;
• and
• d) subjecting the second raffinate from step c) to solvent extraction to obtain a solution rich in nickel.