ENICON: Sustainable processing of Europe's low-grade sulphidic and lateritic nickel/cobalt ores and tailings into battery-grade metals

预计2040年钴(Co)和镍(Ni)的需求将是2020年的约20倍。鉴于欧洲在集中在刚果民主共和国、印度尼西亚和中国的全球镍/钴供应链中只扮演次要角色，我们在确保可靠、负担得起和可持续的电池级镍/钴供应方面面临着严重问题，这对欧洲到2050年实现气候中立的目标至关重要。根据“国内外采购”的采购模式，ENICON挖掘欧洲(低品位)镍/钴资源的潜力--即硫化镍/钴矿石和衍生的含镍/钴黄铁矿和硅酸盐尾矿，以及褐铁矿/腐殖质红土镍(/钴)矿石--同时改善和发展可处理进口矿石、精矿和中间体的镍/钴精炼能力。ENICON包括对欧洲现有的镍/钴冶金装置操作进行重大改进，以及为镍/钴硫化物精矿和红土开发一条基于氯化氢的新路线。ENICON的HCl路线摒弃了老式的水力方法，即连续沉淀和重新溶解金属，这需要大量化学物质，并产生有问题的废流。基于HCl的路线可以扩展到从红土中获得的FeNi(II类镍)的下游处理；(2)从富钴硫铁矿尾矿的生物浸出中获得的混合(Ni/Co)硫化物/氢氧化物沉淀物(MSP/MHP)；以及含镍/钴的硅酸盐尾矿。ENICON的目标是“法医几何学”方案，使其能够识别和减轻现有和新流程中加工损失的矿物学和质地原因。为了实现向(接近)零废物处理的过渡，并进一步减少二氧化碳排放量，ENICON开发了增强的矿物基质价化工艺。ENICON的欧洲镍/钴采矿、加工和精炼公司集团的产出都将以目前方法对环境和技术经济的积极影响为基准。

The cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) demand is expected to be about 20 times higher in 2040 than in 2020. Given that Europe plays only a minor role in the global Ni/Co supply chains, which are concentrated in the DRC, Indonesia, and China, we face a serious problem in securing a reliable, affordable, and sustainable supply of battery-grade Ni/Co, vital for Europe’s aims to be climate-neutral by 2050. In view of a “domestic and foreign sourcing” procurement model, ENICON exploits the potential of (low-grade) Ni/Co resources within Europe – i.e. sulphidic Ni/Co ores and derived Ni/Co-bearing pyrite and silicate tailings, and limonitic/saprolitic laterite Ni(/ Co) ores – while improving and developing the Ni/Co-refining capacity that can process imported ores, concentrates and intermediates. ENICON comprises both major improvements to existing Ni/Co metallurgical unit operations in Europe as well as the development of a new HCl-based route for both Ni/Co sulphide concentrates and laterites. ENICON’s HCl-route dispenses with the old-school hydro approach of continuously precipitating and redissolving metals that requires lots of chemicals and creates problematic waste streams. The HCl-based route can be extended to the downstream processing of FeNi (Class-II Ni) obtained from laterites; (2) Mixed (Ni/Co) Sulphide/Hydroxide Precipitate (MSP/MHP) from the bioleaching of Co-rich pyrite tailings; and Ni/Co-containing silicate tailings. ENICON targets a “forensic geometallurgy” protocol, making it possible to identify and mitigate the mineralogical and textural reasons for processing losses along existing and new flowsheets. To make the transition to (near) zero-waste processing and to further reduce CO2-footprints, ENICON develops enhanced mineral-matrix valorisation processes. The outputs from ENICON’s group of European Ni/Co mining, processing and refining companies will all be benchmarked in terms of positive environmental and techno-economic impacts against current methods.