中国有色冶金

Although the scandium content in laterite nickel ore is not high, the scandium yield from by-product in nickel extraction process is much higher than other scandium resources, due to the large processing capacity of laterite nickel ore.In this paper, the typical process flow of nickel-cobalt hydroxide intermediate product ( MHP ) produced by high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) of laterite nickel ore was statistically analyzed, and the influence of parameter adjustment of each key process position on scandium distribution was studied.The results show that the leaching rate of scandium in the process of HPAL is very high, and it can be considered that all of them enter the liquid phase. Scandium is mainly distributed in the first iron and aluminum removal slag, the second iron and aluminum removal slag and MHP products. All of them can be used as raw materials for the extraction of scandium. The distribution ratio of scandium in each phase is related to pH of the process.Reducing the pH of the solution after the first and second iron and aluminum removal is beneficial to the enrichment of scandium in MHP products, but it will lead to the entry of impurity elements such as iron and aluminum into MHP products and increase the cost of subsequent refining treatment. In production, the subsequent negative effects of impurity elements should be quantitatively considered to maximize the economic benefits.