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了限制未来使用内燃机的立法。因此，电动汽车正在取代化石燃料动力汽车，对锂离子电池的需求迅速增长，以提供必要的能量存储。由于镍是这些电池阴极的重要组成部分，预计未来三年内对这种金属的需求将超过供应，到2030年，短缺预计将达到预计产量的三分之一。拟议的研究将与Giga Metals Corp.合作进行，Giga将专注于Turnagain镍钴存款，Giga计划将其作为锂离子电池市场镍和钴的主要供应商投入生产。Turnagain镍钴存款托管的阿拉斯加型超镁铁质-镁铁质侵入体，被解释为具有饱和的不混溶的硫化物液体作为同化的结果的硫化物丰富的石墨千枚岩。然而，有令人信服的证据表明，岩浆硫化物在蛇纹石化过程中发生了广泛的热液再活化，这可能是Giga在镍和钴的冶金回收方面遇到困难的原因。该研究将由使用EDI最佳实践选择的团队进行，将涉及表征矿化及其宿主岩石，以确定金属再活化的性质和程度。这将由矿物化学和稳定同位素研究补充，结合相平衡的热力学分析，将用于确定蛇纹石化和金属再活化的物理化学条件，并模拟其成因和空间再分布。该项目还将收集有关潜在二氧化碳封存的蛇纹石矿物学信息。通过这些研究，Giga将获得研究产品，使其能够完善其继续勘探和开发Turnagain存款的战略，调整其镍钴矿石的净化方案，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.