Serpentinisation and the behaviour of nickel in Alaskan-type intrusions

对全球变暖的担忧导致许多国家出台立法，限制未来内燃机的使用。因此，电动汽车正在取代化石燃料驱动的汽车，对锂离子电池的需求迅速增长，以提供必要的能量存储。由于镍是这些电池中阴极的重要成分，预计未来三年内这种金属的需求将超过供应，到2030年，缺口预计将达到预计产量的三分之一。这项拟议中的研究将与Giga Metals Corp.合作进行，重点是Giga计划作为锂离子电池市场镍和钴的主要供应商投产的Turnback镍钴矿藏。特纳再次镍钴矿床赋存于阿拉斯加型超镁铁镁铁质侵入体中，据解释，由于富含硫化物的石墨质千枚岩的同化作用，该侵入体已被不混溶的硫化物液体饱和。然而，有令人信服的证据表明，岩浆硫化物在蛇纹岩作用期间受到了广泛的热液再活化，这可能解释了Giga在冶炼回收镍和钴方面遇到的困难。这项研究将由一个使用EDI最佳实践挑选的团队进行，将涉及描述矿化及其围岩的特征，以确定金属再动员的性质和程度。这将得到矿物化学和稳定同位素研究的补充，该研究将结合相平衡的热力学分析，用于确定蛇纹岩和金属再动员的物理化学条件，并模拟它们的成因和空间重新分布。该项目还将收集与潜在的二氧化碳封存有关的蛇纹石矿物学信息。作为这些研究的结果，Giga将能够获得研究产品，使其能够完善其继续勘探和开发TurnOnce矿床的战略，调整其镍钴矿石的选矿方案，以最大限度地提高金属回收率，并评估废物产品用于二氧化碳封存的潜力。

Concerns over global warming have led many countries to introduce legislation that limits the future use of internal combustion engines. As a result, electric vehicles are replacing fossil fuel-powered vehicles and there is a rapidly growing demand for lithium-ion batteries to provide the necessary energy storage. Because nickel is an essential component of the cathode in these batteries, demand for this metal is predicted to exceed supply within the next three years and, by 2030, the shortfall is expected to reach a third of projected production. The proposed research, which will be conducted in partnership with Giga Metals Corp., will focus on the Turnagain Ni-Co deposit that Giga is planning to bring into production as a major supplier of Ni and Co to the lithium-ion battery market. The Turnagain Ni-Co deposit is hosted by an Alaskan-type ultramafic-mafic intrusion that is interpreted to have saturated with an immiscible sulphide liquid as a result of assimilation of a sulphide-rich graphitic phyllite. There is compelling evidence, however, that the magmatic sulphides were hydrothermally remobilised extensively during serpentinisation, which may account for the difficulties that Giga is experiencing in the metallurgical recovery of nickel and cobalt. The research, which will be conducted by a team selected using EDI best-practices, will involve characterising the mineralisation and their host rocks to establish the nature and extent of metal remobilisation. This will be complemented by a mineral chemical and stable isotope study that, in conjunction with a thermodynamic analysis of phase equilibria, will be used to determine the physicochemical conditions of serpentinisation and metal remobilisation, and model their genesis and spatial redistribution. The project will also gather information on serpentine mineralogy pertinent to potential CO2 sequestration. As a result of these studies, Giga will have access to research products that will enable it to refine its strategy for the continued exploration and development of the Turnagain deposit, adjust its protocol for beneficiating the Ni-Co ores to maximise metal recovery and assess the potential of the waste product for carbon dioxide sequestration.