Reducibility of laterite ores

The reducibility of several types of lateritic nickel bearing ores was investigated. The ores were reduced with hydrogen over a temperature range of 673 to 1273 K and reaction times from 5 to 80 minutes. The fraction of nickel, iron, and cobalt reduced to the metallic state was determined by leaching the reacted samples with a bromine-methanol solution followed by atomic absorption analysis for the individual elements. The reducibility of nickel increased with increasing iron concentration of the ore. Increased reduction temperature greatly raised the amount of nickel reduced for ores with high iron concentrations. The cobalt reducibility decreased with increasing iron concentration of the ore. Changes in reduction temperature affected cobalt reduction less than nickel reduction. The observed changes in reducibility have been attributed to the formation of phases which incorporate nickel and cobalt. The major ore components were plotted on the ternary phase diagram of the SiO2+(Al2O3)-MgO-FeO system. It is shown how this plot can be used to predict the reducibility of different types of lateritic ores.