Recovery of nickel from nickel bearing sulphide minerals by bioleaching

US6733567B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Billiton Intellectual Property, B.V. · NL

Inventors

• David Dew · Randburg, ZA
• Petrus Basson · Randburg, ZA
• Alan Norton · Johannesburg, ZA
• Frank K. Crundwell · Mitchells Plain, ZA

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 19, 2002
• Grant date: May 11, 2004
• Expiry date: Oct 23, 2022

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S423/17
• WIPO field: Materials, metallurgy
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A method of recovering nickel from a nickel bearing sulphide mineral slurry which includes the steps of subjecting the slurry to a bioleaching process, supplying a feed gas which contains in excess of 21% oxygen by volume, to the slurry, and recovering nickel from a bioleach residue of the bioleaching process.