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.


Tevfik Agacayak and Merve Koseler