I. Review of the background of nickel ore resources, production, supply and demand, and price at home and abroad
(1) Resources/reserves
At the end of 2006, the country identified 8,013,900 tons of resource reserves. The basic reserves of the resource reserves were 2,272,200 tons (including 231,870 tons of reserves), and the resources were 5.286 million tons.
Since the founding of New China to 2006, the cumulative identify nickel-metal resources / reserves of 9.7229 million tons, of which reserves of 4.3333 million tons basis. The period in which the fastest growth in resources/reserves was identified was from 1962 to 1975. The increase in the number of resources/reserves was identified between 1976 and 2005. It is more difficult to find mines after the 1980s. According to the results of the investigation of domestic basic-ultrabasic rock masses and the search for minerals, it is difficult to find a large number of new large-scale copper- nickel deposits in the near future.
(2) Production
From 1955 to 2007, China's mines produced a total of 827,800 tons of nickel, and the smelter produced a total of 907,300 tons of refined nickel (Figure 1), all of which were produced from copper-copper-nickel deposits. Before 2004, the mine production and smelting production capacity were equivalent. The raw materials used in domestic mines were mainly used to smelt nickel. In 2005, raw materials were imported from abroad to meet the demand for smelting production capacity (Table l).
(3) Consumption
In 2006, China's nickel consumption reached 192,900 tons. Before 2000, domestic raw materials can meet the demand of domestic consumption. Since 2001, due to the rapid increase of domestic stainless steel and battery production, domestic raw materials can not meet the domestic consumption demand. The average annual growth rate of consumption between 2000 and 2006 is 23.75%. The self-sufficiency rate of raw materials dropped from 90% to 40%, and the gap was supplemented by imports (Table 2).
(4) Demand
From 1990 to 1999, China's stainless steel production was always between 250,000 and 400,000 tons, and the nickel/steel ratio was 0.04%, which is far from the world average nickel/steel ratio of 0.11% and the industrial developed countries' ratio of 0.16% to 0.23%. At the beginning of the new century, China began to enter the stage of large-scale production of stainless steel, and its output increased rapidly. In 2002, it was 1.2 million tons, in 2003 it was 1.8 million tons, in 2004 it was 2.75 million tons, in 2005 it was 3.87 million tons, and in 2006 it was 5.36 million tons. According to the current statistics of domestic iron and steel plant development plan, by 2010 China's stainless steel production is expected to reach 6 million to 900 million tons. According to China's stainless steel production data, China's nickel consumption in 2010 will reach 240,000 to 360,000 tons.
(5) World nickel ore resource reserves
In 2006, the world's nickel reserves were 64 million tons, and the reserve base was 140 million tons. At present, the world's proven nickel reserves can meet the demand for production in the coming decades.
The world's nickel reserves are mainly concentrated in Cuba, Canada, Russia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, China and Brazil, which account for about 91% of the world's total nickel reserves.
The world's land has been identified as having an average nickel content close to (or greater than) 1% of nickel ore resources of 130 million tons. 60% of them belong to laterite-type nickel deposits. Among them, the associated minerals are mainly cobalt and iron, mainly distributed in Cuba, New Caledonia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brazil, Colombia and Dominica near the equator; 40% belong to magma. Type copper-nickel sulfide deposits, which have a large number of associated minerals, mainly copper, cobalt, platinum , gold, silver , gallium , steel, antimony , sulfur, selenium , hooves, etc., mainly distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa, The magma intrusion into the ancient Shield Zone, Mesozoic Sag and Paleozoic Trough folds in Australia and North America is controlled by deep lateral faults such as Canada, Russia, Australia, China, South Africa. Copper-nickel deposits in countries such as Zimbabwe and Botswana. In addition, the deep ocean seabed and sea manganese nodules and manganese crusts mountain also contains a lot of resources of nickel, its main common, associated minerals are copper, cobalt and manganese, mainly in the Pacific Ocean.
(6) World nickel ore production
In 2006, the world's nickel production was 1,146,900 tons, and refined nickel production was 1,330,100 tons. About 60% of them are produced in magma-type copper-nickel sulphide deposits, mostly pit mining, which is smelted by fire method. Because of the total and associated minerals available for comprehensive industrial recycling, the main copper, platinum, gold and silver. And sulfur, etc., so the production cost is lower; the other 40% is produced from the laterite nickel deposit, which is exposed, no need for beneficiation , and is smelted by high-pressure acid leaching or ammonia leaching, which is available for comprehensive recycling of the current industry. The associated minerals are only cobalt, so the current production costs are generally higher than the former.
Today, the growth rate of nickel consumption in the world is higher than the growth rate of mine production. Although the world's proven nickel reserves can meet the demand for production in the next few decades, no large nickel mines were put into production in 2007. 90% of Asian Mineral Resources Holdings and 10% of Mechanical Engineering (Mechanica Engineering) holdings of Ban Phuc nickel mine in Vietnam are expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2007 and will be produced during the 5-year mine life. The nickel was 21,200 tons and the copper was 99,000 tons. The selected concentrate was transported to Haiphong Port by truck. From 2008 to 2010, there are 7 nickel mines planned to be developed globally, with a total of about 14 million tons of nickel reserves/resources. If all of them can be started as scheduled, the total production capacity is 280,000 tons/year of nickel. See Table 3 for details.
(VII) Status of development and utilization of foreign laterite nickel ore
At present, the use of wet smelting of laterite nickel ore in foreign countries, in view of the different composition of red stone, often uses different methods and processes, reduction roasting - ammonia leaching, high pressure acid leaching, atmospheric leaching, heap leaching and so on.
So far, Cuba's Moa Bay laterite nickel ore is the most successful example of extracting nickel by immersion. Three high-pressure acid leaching laterite nickel projects in Western Australia were commissioned in late 1998. The production capacity of Phase 1 is: Murrin Murrin 45,000 tons nickel/year; Cawse 8000 tons nickel/year; Bulong 9000 tons nickel/year; Phase 2 production capacity: Murrin Murrin 100000 tons nickel/year. However, the current production technology difficulties have not been completely solved. Only after solving the production technology problems, the output of the three mines can reach the design production capacity. Ramu in Papua New Guinea is a large-scale laterite nickel project that China is investing in. In addition, the mines under construction are Goro in New Caledonia and Ravensthorpe in Australia.
(8) Consumption and price
In 2006, the world's refined nickel consumption was 1,376,700 tons. Since stainless steel and heat-resistant steel account for about 66% of nickel consumption (10% increase in world stainless steel production and 1% increase in nickel consumption), stainless steel production is one of the signs of nickel demand. In 2005, the world's stainless steel production was 24.32 million tons, and in 2006 it was 28.36 million tons. Among them, China's output has grown rapidly. In 2005, China's output was 3.87 million tons, and in 2006 it was 5.36 million tons.
In 2003, the world economy began to recover. From 2004 to 2006, the market continued to improve. Stainless steel production continued to rise. Especially in China, nickel consumption increased rapidly. In recent years, due to the rapid development of aerospace, aircraft manufacturing and electronics manufacturing, the consumption of nickel in nickel-based alloys, copper-based alloys and nickel batteries (NiCad and NiMH) has increased rapidly. Therefore, from the long-term trend, S world nickel consumption will continue to grow.
From 2004 to 2006, the world's nickel demand increased rapidly, and the market supply was insufficient. Nickel prices continue to rise sharply in the international market (Figure 2), causing high attention from producers and consumers. The increase in production in 2006 was basically the same as consumption, but due to the limited production that could be increased in 2007, nickel prices in May 2007 rose to $25/lb. The industry exclaimed: "Nickel has been among the ranks of precious metals!" With reference to the same period of production costs (the operating cost of nickel produced by nickel sulfide ore is 2 to 3 US dollars / lb, and laterite nickel ore is 3 to 5 US dollars / lb), market nickel The price is already on the wave of crazy speculation.
Second, the rise of China's fire law smelting laterite nickel ore
(1) Current status of smelting laterite nickel ore in China
The invention of the invention of the nickel- chromium pig iron by the blast furnace with the independent intellectual property rights and the actual effect of producing a large number of nickel pig iron is a major breakthrough in the production technology of nickel metal in China and the world. The technological change and its rapid entry into the production and application fields have successfully attacked the crazy speculation in the international market. In June 2007, the nickel price in the international market dropped sharply (Figure 2).
In the market with high nickel prices, starting in 2005, domestic private enterprises began to use the steelmaking blast furnace to convert and smelt laterite nickel ore to produce nickel pig iron. After 10 years of trial, in March 2006, Mr. Liu Guanghuo invented and applied for the invention patent of the invention patent of the son of Liu Shenjie to the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the red smelting process of nickel-based pig iron by the blast furnace. The bureau will publish it publicly. According to customs import and export statistics, in January and February of the same year, the import volume of laterite nickel ore was only 18,000 tons. After March, China's private enterprises began to use large-scale nickel ore from the Philippines and Indonesia to smelt nickel pig iron. The amount of imported ore is increasing month by month. By the end of the year, about 3 million tons of imported ore will be used, and the nickel content of nickel pig iron will be about 30,000 tons. In 2007, there were more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprises producing nickel pig iron in the country. About 1 million tons of ore were imported from January to September. At present, many ore is backlogged in Hong Kong.
(II) Existing problems and development of smelting laterite nickel ore in China
At present, the nickel-containing pig iron produced by Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises has a nickel content of 4% to 8%, which can only be used as an ingredient for smelting stainless steel. When smelting stainless steel, a certain amount of refined pure nickel needs to be added. Only by increasing the technology to make the nickel content of nickel pig iron reach 12% to 15%, can completely replace pure nickel when smelting stainless steel. This is the reason for the accumulation of ore in the port, and it is also the technical difficulty that private enterprises need to overcome in the future. According to the latest information, individual technologically advanced companies have been able to produce nickel pig iron with a nickel content of more than 10%.
Among the many private enterprises, the largest and most technologically advanced enterprise is Zhejiang Qingshan Holding Group. The production process of Qingpu Nickel Pig Iron Project of Zhejiang Qingshan Holding Group is: ore → ore + raw water → sintering → sintered ore cooling and crushing → sintering broken ore + limestone + coke → blast furnace smelting → ingot casting → ingot finishing packaging. The product is ferronickel (nickel content 4% to 7%) and the output is 180,000 tons/year. In addition, the group is planning to build a new nickel pig iron project on OBI Island in Indonesia, seeking to start a business and develop overseas.
Third, the conclusion
China has used the fire method to smelt nickel pig iron by laterite nickel ore, which has brought about major changes in the composition of stainless steel production materials, changed the supply and demand pattern of nickel in the world's stainless steel production raw materials, and changed the pattern of the world stainless steel industry. The low-cost utilization of laterite nickel ore resources with poor ore quality is in line with the historical trend of resource conservation and has opened a new chapter in the history of stainless steel production in China.
At present, the market capacity of low-grade products of the blast furnace method has been saturated, and the rotary kiln + ore furnace process of accelerating the development of more than 10% grade can further expand the market capacity of the red earth mine fire method. The establishment of nickel pig iron smelting enterprises in the surrounding red earth nickel ore resources countries can reduce transportation costs, reduce domestic energy consumption, and reduce domestic industrial pollution.
Gravity Separation Machine & Gold Washing for sale
Newest Model Gravity Separation Ore Separator Jig Concentrator Tantalun-Niobium Jigging Machine
High Performance Gravity Separation Equipment Jig Machine for Sale
ISO Quality Approved Jigger Machine for Gravity Separation
Best Mining Machinery Jt Series Gravity Separation Gold Jig Machine for Africa countries
Working Principle
Jig machines need water to work, and it loosens materials in vertical alternative water-flows, and it forms different layers of materials of different densities and discharges both layers from up and down discharging ports separately. The basic composition of jigger is jigging chambers, also called jigging boxes, and there are screens in each chamber.
Water and raw ore will be fed from one end of the jigger screen, the ore granules will move in the vertical alternative water-flows. Layers will be formed because of density difference of materials. The minerals with small density will be in the up layer and will flow together with the up pulp flow while material with bigger density will be in the down layer and will discharged from the down discharging port as jigging concentrate.
ApplicationThis jig machine Can achieve a good result in processing such as placer gold, diamond, tungsten, iron, tin, hematite, cope, tantalum-niobium, titanium, manganese, barite, zirconium, chrome and gemstone etc.
Main Feature
1.High capacity, High concentration ratio and recovery
2.Fabricated with highest quality material
3.Easy to install, operate and maintain
4.Water conservation ,Saving water 30-40% than ordinary jig
Gold Washing,Gold Washing Machine,Gold Washing Equipment,Gravity Separation Machine
Henan YikYui Prospecting Machinery Co., Ltd , https://www.yikyui-rig.com