Formation and preservation of brucite and awaruite in a serpentinized ultramafite, central British Columbia: implications for carbon sequestration and nickel recovery

Steinthorsdottir, Katrin

doi:10.14288/1.0397201

Cited by 1 publication

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“…This nickel deportment is consistent with other studies carried out on samples from the Baptiste deposit. Awaruite forms in a reducing environment, at low sulfur and oxygen fugacities, during the breakdown of olivine or nickel-bearing sulfides and is commonly associated with Ni-rich sulfides [25]. For the Baptiste sample, the distribution of nickel sulfides between nickel-rich and nickel-poor is fairly even, and they represent roughly 10% of the nickel present in the sample.…”

Section: Materials Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Awaruite, a New Large Nickel Resource: Flotation under Weakly Acidic Conditions

Seiler,

Sánchez,

Pawlik

et al. 2023

Minerals

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To support the transformation to clean low carbon technologies, there is a demand for critical metals such as nickel. Awaruite is a less common nickel-bearing mineral with unique properties and responses to mineral separation. This paper presents the findings of a flotation study to recover awaruite from the Baptiste ultramafic deposit, located in central British Columbia, Canada. Nickel recoveries of up to 65% at the rougher stage were obtained with xanthate as a collector at a pH level of 4.5. Awaruite flotation was shown to be highly dependent on the slurry pH. At weakly acidic conditions, the awaruite surface is activated through the dissolution of the passivation layer formed during grinding in alkaline conditions. Desliming was shown to reduce the acid consumption required to maintain the pH, probably by removing the highly reactive serpentine slimes generated during grinding. Rougher, followed by cleaner stages of flotation, showed that a high-grade concentrate can be produced with up to 45% nickel, 1.3% cobalt, 0.7% copper and negligible concentrations of penalty elements, such as arsenic, lead, and selenium, among others. A nickel flotation concentrate from an awaruite deposit is a promising feedstock for not only stainless-steel production but also for clean energy technologies.

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Section: Materials Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%