Effect of microwave heating on the leaching of lateritic nickel ore in perchloric acid

Summary: in this study,the leaching conditions of sivrihisar (adatepe) limonite type lateritic ore in acidic medium were investigated. leaching experiments were carried out using conventional and microwave-assisted method. the effects of stirring speed,leaching temperature,perchloric acid concentration,solid/liquid ratio and particle size on conventional leaching were determined. microwave-assisted leaching was carried out by using the optimum results of the conventional leaching. the pre-heating process was applied on different microwave powers (0,90,180,360 and 600 w) and pre-processing time (0,1,3,5,7,10,15 and 20 min). these experimental results demonstrated that acid leaching was a convenient method for ni extraction from lateritic ore. the higher dissolution and the higher ni recoveries in the microwave-assisted leaching process were obtained in less leach time. © 2015,chemical society of pakistan. all rights reserved.