This invention relates to a process for recovering valuable metals from ore with significantly reduced water consumption through the discrete treatment and storage of coarse tailings. Ore is ground to produce a coarse particulate ore. The coarse particulate ore is treated in a coarse flotation stage to produce a low grade concentrate fraction and a coarse tailings fraction. The low grade concentrate fraction is treated to produce fine tailings and a saleable concentrate. The coarse tailings are treated separately from the fine tailings and water is recovered from the coarse tailings by hydraulically stacking; filtering or screening, whereafter the coarse tailings are dry stacked, without being recombined with the fine tailings.

Provided is a method for producing nickel powder from a nickel ammine sulfate complex solution, comprising treatment steps of: (1) a seed crystal production step of producing nickel powder having an average particle size of 0.1 to 5 m; (2) a seed crystal addition step of adding the nickel powder obtained in the step (1) as seed crystals to form a mixed slurry; (3) a reduction step of forming a reduced slurry containing nickel powder formed by precipitation of a nickel component in the mixed slurry on the seed crystals; and (4) a growth step of performing solid-liquid separation to separate and recover the nickel powder as a solid phase component and then blowing hydrogen gas into a solution prepared by adding the nickel ammine sulfate complex solution to the recovered nickel powder to grow the nickel powder to form high purity nickel powder.

The present disclosure relates to a process and system for recovery of one or more metal values using solution extraction techniques and to a system for metal value recovery. In an exemplary embodiment, the solution extraction system comprises a first solution extraction circuit and a second solution extraction circuit. A first metal-bearing solution is provided to the first and second circuit, and a second metal-bearing solution is provided to the first circuit. The first circuit produces a first rich electrolyte solution, which can be forwarded to primary metal value recovery, and a low-grade raffinate, which is forwarded to secondary metal value recovery. The second circuit produces a second rich electrolyte solution, which is also forwarded to primary metal value recovery. The first and second solution extraction circuits have independent organic phases and each circuit can operate independently of the other circuit.

There is provided a method capable of effectively reducing the amount of acid used in a leaching step and the amount of a neutralizer used in a final neutralization step while nickel yield in a hydrometallurgical process for nickel oxide ore is not reduced. A method for pre-treating ore slurry according to the present invention is a method for pre-treating ore slurry to be provided to a leaching treatment in a hydrometallurgical process for nickel oxide ore, the method including: a first separation step for separating ore slurry into a coarse particle fraction and a fine particle fraction; a second separation step for separating the coarse particle fraction separated in the first separation step into a heavy specific gravity fraction and a light specific gravity fraction; and a vibration sieving step for separating, by a vibration sieve, the light specific gravity fraction.

The subject invention provides safe, environmentally-friendly, compositions and methods for extracting minerals and/or metals from ore. More specifically, the subject invention provides for bioleaching using a composition comprising one or more biosurfactant-producing microorganisms and/or microbial growth by-products. In specific embodiments, the composition comprises biosurfactant-producing yeasts and/or their growth by-products.

The present disclosure relates to a process and system for recovery of one or more metal values using solution extraction techniques and to a system for metal value recovery. In an exemplary embodiment, the solution extraction system comprises a first solution extraction circuit and a second solution extraction circuit. A first metal-bearing solution is provided to the first and second circuit, and a second metal-bearing solution is provided to the first circuit. The first circuit produces a first rich electrolyte solution, which can be forwarded to primary metal value recovery, and a low-grade raffinate, which is forwarded to secondary metal value recovery. The second circuit produces a second rich electrolyte solution, which is also forwarded to primary metal value recovery. The first and second solution extraction circuits have independent organic phases and each circuit can operate independently of the other circuit.

Methods are disclosed for leaching metal-containing materials, such as those contained in the cathode of spent lithium-ion batteries, using a leach solution of an amino acid and a reducing agent. The metal-containing material is treated with the leach solution to recover at least one metal. For example, when the metal-containing material is lithium cobalt (III) oxide (LiCoO.sub.2), leaching with the leach solution of the present invention enables the recovery of the lithium and/or cobalt metal.

Disclosed herein are processes for removing lithium from a battery material comprising contacting the battery material with an aqueous medium comprising calcium hypochlorite salts to form a mixture, and separating in the mixture solids from liquids to obtain an aqueous solution comprising lithium ions. Also disclosed are processes for recycling lithium ion battery materials.

A process is provided for obtaining a hematite-containing material that can be used for ironmaking. The process includes separating a leach residue from a hydrometallurgical refining plant into an overflow and an underflow using a wet cyclone under a condition that the wet cyclone is adjusted to have a setting between 1 m or less and 2 m or less as a classification particle size for the overflow. The process then includes separating the overflow into a strong magnetic substance and a weak magnetic substance using a strong-magnetic-field magnetic separator under a condition that magnetic field intensity is 5 to 20 [kGauss]. The process then includes using a superheated steam drying system for adjusting a moisture content of the strong magnetic substance after the separation, to be 10 wt % to 17 wt %.

A plant for recovering metals and/or metal oxides from industrial process waste, in particular oil product refining waste, comprises a furnace; a feed line connected to a main inlet of the furnace and configured to feed the furnace with a solid waste containing metals, in particular in oxide form; an outlet line, connected to a solid phase outlet of the furnace and configured to draw a metal-enriched solid phase out of the furnace; the furnace is a belt conveyor furnace having a belt conveyor closed in a loop with a substantially horizontal configuration and having a top face, which receives the waste to treat and conveys it between two longitudinal opposite ends of the belt conveyor furnace respectively provided with the main inlet and the solid phase outlet.