Frequently Asked Questions - Processing
| Q. | What is hydrometallurgical technology? |
|---|---|
| A. | Hydrometallurgy, or hydromet for short, is a mineral processing technology that uses water based solutions of chemicals to dissolve valuable metals from their ores or concentrates or intermediate products such as matte, leaving the waste components such as rock, iron oxides and sulphur in a solid residue that can be disposed of or impounded in an environmentally responsible and acceptable manner. The solutions contain impurity metals as well as the valuable metals and must be purified chemically before the valuable metal is recovered from the solution in the form of a pure product. |
| Q. | Is hydromet a new technology? |
| A. | Hydromet in general is not new. Many operations, some of them in Canada, have used hydrometallurgical processes for years for extraction of zinc and copper from ores and sulphide concentrates, and even for extraction of nickel from nickel mattes. What is new is the development of an economically viable hydrometallurgical process for direct processing of nickel-cobalt sulphide concentrate to produce high purity electronickel. |
| Q. | When will the commercial processing plant be operational? |
| A. | Preparations for the commercial processing plant in Long Harbour began in 2006 and engineering and procurement planning are well advanced. With environmental assessment nearing completion, the next step entails securing the necessary permits to allow construction to begin in April 2009. Construction is expected to begin in 2009 and to be completed by the end of 2011 with commissioning and operations beginning in 2012. |
| Q. | How is Vale Inco proceeding with the development of hydromet technology for Voisey’s Bay concentrate? |
| A. | A series of process steps will be used in developing a hydromet facility. The first step was to prove that each separate chemical process works individually at a laboratory scale; this has been successfully completed. The second step involved operating a “mini-pilot” plant at Vale Inco’s laboratory facilities to ensure that the steps could be interconnected into a continuous process. The next step was to build a demonstration plant at Argentia to allow for fine-tuning and optimization of the process. The key mission of the Argentia demonstration plant is to prove out and fine-tune all processing steps to confirm commercial viability and assist designers in the selection of the most appropriate materials of construction and specification of major pieces of equipment. The results of the hydromet R&D program will be assessed to determine the technical and economic viability of using hydromet technology in a commercial-scale processing plant. In the event hydromet is determined not to be viable, Vale Inco will build a commercial nickel matte processing plant. Upon successful completion of a technically and economically viable hydromet technology, a commercial hydromet plant will be designed and built. |