A Novel Method of Smelting a Mixture of Two Types of Laterite Ore to Prepare Ferronickel

A novel method of smelting a mixture of two types of laterite ore (saprolitic and limonitic) to prepare ferronickel has been investigated. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the melting temperature of the slag phase dropped below 1400 degrees C with increasing FeO content, which can be regulated by adjusting the ratio of limonite and the carbon content. The experimental results also proved that the melting degree of the reduced pellets increased with increasing limonitic laterite ratio and that the reduction as well as magnetic separation was enhanced when the reduction was carried out in the presence of limonitic laterite ore. A ferronickel product with 8.08 wt.% Ni, 80.09 wt.% Fe, and 3.75 wt.% C was prepared by heating the mixture to 1380 degrees C in the presence of 6 wt.% carbon content and 5 wt.% limonitic laterite ore, followed by magnetic separation. The Ni and Fe recoveries were 89.26% and 81.64 wt.%, respectively.