2186
Effects of Divalent Cations on the Flotation Separation of
Pentlandite from Magnesium-Bearing Minerals
Lisha Dong, Boris Albijanic, Bogale Tadesse, Laurence Dyer
Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering,
Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, Australia, Western Australia
ABSTRACT: Nickel (Ni) is an essential non-ferrous metal widely utilized in aerospace, national defence, and
alloy manufacturing industries. With the increasing interest in new energy-powered vehicles, the significance of
Ni has become more evident. This versatile metal plays a critical role in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), particularly
in ternary LIBs. Currently, a significant portion of the world’s Ni is extracted from the nickel sulfide mineral
pentlandite, which frequently appeared with ores with high magnesium (Mg) content, such as serpentine. Froth
flotation is a water-intensive physiochemical separation process, requiring a substantial amount of water. Due
to the scarcity of fresh water, many minerals processing plants used saline, recycled processing, or sea water.
There are different kinds of ions in the water, which play an important role on the flotation process. In addition,
during the pentlandite flotation, the entrainment of serpentine can lead to an excessive Mg content in Ni
concentrate, posing significant separation challenges. The effects of these electrolyte ions on the flotation process
were still unclear. In this work, the effects of divalent cations which commonly appeared in the processing water
on the pentlandite flotation are to be investigated. During this work, characterizations of minerals (pentlandite
and lizardite) are carried out. The best chemical reagents to improve the separation efficiency and selectivity of
the nickel recovery and grade were determined. The results showed that during the microflotation, the pH plays
a significant role in the flotation performance, the highest recovery is generated with pH 3 Mg2+ and Ca2+ do
not have significant effects unless the molar concentration is as high as 1 mol/L and/or above while Fe2+ and
Ni2+ have significant influence when the molar concentration starts from 0.01 mol/L.
Keywords: Nickel sulfide mineral (pentlandite), Mg-bearing minerals (serpentine: lizardite), Characterizations,
Divalent cations, Flotation separation.
INTRODUCTION
As the fifth most abundant element on earth, nickel (Ni)
comprises approximately 3% of the earth’s crust, ranking
second only to iron (Fe), oxygen (O), silicon (Si), and mag-
nesium (Mg). While nickel is considered a niche variety
within the non-ferrous metal family, it has been widely uti-
lized in industries such as stainless steel, batteries, electro-
plating, aerospace industries, national defence industries,
and other fields (Yang et al., 2016). As a result, the demand
for nickel is expected to increase substantially, creating new
opportunities for the industry to innovate and expand its
applications (Huang and Zhang, 2019).
Nickel resources can be broadly classified into three
categories: nickel sulfide ore, nickel oxide ore, and subma-
rine nodules. Due to economic and technological limita-
tions, submarine nodules cannot be developed and utilized
Effects of Divalent Cations on the Flotation Separation of
Pentlandite from Magnesium-Bearing Minerals
Lisha Dong, Boris Albijanic, Bogale Tadesse, Laurence Dyer
Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering,
Curtin University, Kalgoorlie, Australia, Western Australia
ABSTRACT: Nickel (Ni) is an essential non-ferrous metal widely utilized in aerospace, national defence, and
alloy manufacturing industries. With the increasing interest in new energy-powered vehicles, the significance of
Ni has become more evident. This versatile metal plays a critical role in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), particularly
in ternary LIBs. Currently, a significant portion of the world’s Ni is extracted from the nickel sulfide mineral
pentlandite, which frequently appeared with ores with high magnesium (Mg) content, such as serpentine. Froth
flotation is a water-intensive physiochemical separation process, requiring a substantial amount of water. Due
to the scarcity of fresh water, many minerals processing plants used saline, recycled processing, or sea water.
There are different kinds of ions in the water, which play an important role on the flotation process. In addition,
during the pentlandite flotation, the entrainment of serpentine can lead to an excessive Mg content in Ni
concentrate, posing significant separation challenges. The effects of these electrolyte ions on the flotation process
were still unclear. In this work, the effects of divalent cations which commonly appeared in the processing water
on the pentlandite flotation are to be investigated. During this work, characterizations of minerals (pentlandite
and lizardite) are carried out. The best chemical reagents to improve the separation efficiency and selectivity of
the nickel recovery and grade were determined. The results showed that during the microflotation, the pH plays
a significant role in the flotation performance, the highest recovery is generated with pH 3 Mg2+ and Ca2+ do
not have significant effects unless the molar concentration is as high as 1 mol/L and/or above while Fe2+ and
Ni2+ have significant influence when the molar concentration starts from 0.01 mol/L.
Keywords: Nickel sulfide mineral (pentlandite), Mg-bearing minerals (serpentine: lizardite), Characterizations,
Divalent cations, Flotation separation.
INTRODUCTION
As the fifth most abundant element on earth, nickel (Ni)
comprises approximately 3% of the earth’s crust, ranking
second only to iron (Fe), oxygen (O), silicon (Si), and mag-
nesium (Mg). While nickel is considered a niche variety
within the non-ferrous metal family, it has been widely uti-
lized in industries such as stainless steel, batteries, electro-
plating, aerospace industries, national defence industries,
and other fields (Yang et al., 2016). As a result, the demand
for nickel is expected to increase substantially, creating new
opportunities for the industry to innovate and expand its
applications (Huang and Zhang, 2019).
Nickel resources can be broadly classified into three
categories: nickel sulfide ore, nickel oxide ore, and subma-
rine nodules. Due to economic and technological limita-
tions, submarine nodules cannot be developed and utilized