Ultramafic Nickel Ore Flotation - 1

Ultramafics are one of the three major sources of Nickel. The other two are sulphides and laterites. Because of decreasing sulphide ore sources and the cost of treating laterites, increasing attention is directed to the third source, Ultramafic ores. A huge Nickel resource in Ultramafic hosted rocks are available in 'Thompson Nickel Belt' located in north central Manitoba. Similar ore bodies in a considerable amount have also been reported to be existed in Quebec, Western Australia, North Central China and Zimbabwe.

The major processing challenge is posed by the serpentine polymorph chrysotile, the dominant part of this ore. Being fibrous in nature, chrysotile creates physical entanglement which in turn reduces selectivity and hinders bubble motion during flotation.

In this video you can compare the froth phase of a common sulphide ore to the Ultramafic one. Froth phase seems lack of shiny sulphide particles in case of Ultramafic ore reveals no separation between sulphides and silicates.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• flotation
• ultramafic

[epicure07]

@TheCaptainLulz This is a type of Nickel Ore

[TheCaptainLulz]

which metal is that?