Patent ID: 10273558

Abstract:
Provided is a hydrometallurgical process for nickel oxide ore effectively reducing the amount of sulfuric acid used in the leaching step and the amount of a neutralizer such as slaked lime used in the final neutralization step without reducing nickel yield. The present invention is a method for pre-treating ore slurry to be submitted for leaching treatment in a hydrometallurgical process for nickel oxide ore, the method comprising: a separating step for separating the ore slurry into a coarse particle fraction, in which particles having a particle diameter of less than 45 μm are 30 mass % of the solids or less, and a fine particle fraction, and feeding said fine particle fraction to the leaching process; and a vibration sieving step for separating the separated coarse particle fraction into oversize particles and undersize particles using vibration sieving and feeding the ore slurry of said undersize particles to the leaching process.