Low-Temperature Carbothermic Reduction of Indonesia Nickel Lateritic Ore with Sub-Bituminous Coal

In this work, the experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of temperature and sub-bituminous coal on upgrading nickel laterites ores by carbothermic reduction. The reduction was carried out in the muffle furnace at a temperature ranging of 800-1100 °C. The produced calcine from reduction step was grounded in vibrating mill, mixed with water and passed on a magnetic separator to separate nickel concentrates from the tailing. The experimental results showed that the concentrate with highest nickel grade was produced at temperature 1000 °C. The nickel grade on concentrate was 5.0 %, with the recovery of nickel was 80.6 %. (paper)