Primary nickel is produced from two very different ores, lateritic and sulfidic. Lateritic ores are normally found in tropical climates where weathering, with time, extracts and deposits the ore in layers at varying depths below the surface. Lateritic ores are excavated using large earth-moving equipment and are screened to remove boulders. Sulfidic ores, often found in conjunction with copper-bearing ores, are mined from underground. Following is a description of the
processing steps used for the two types of ores.

Lateritic Ore Processing

Lateritic ores have a high percentage of free and combined moisture, which must be removed. Drying removes free moisture; chemically bound water is removed by a reduction furnace, which also reduces the nickel oxide. Lateritic ores have no significant fuel value, and an electric furnace is needed to obtain the high temperatures required to accommodate the high magnesia content of the ore. Some laterite smelters add sulfur to the furnace to produce a matte for processing.
Most laterite nickel processers run the furnaces so as to reduce the iron content sufficiently to produce ferronickel products. Hydrometallurgical processes based on ammonia or sulfuric acid leach are also used. Ammonia leach is usually applied to the ore after the reduction roast step.

Sulfidic Ore Processing

Flash smelting is the most common process in modern technology, but electric smelting is used for more complex raw materials when increased flexibility is needed. Both processes use dried concentrates. Electric smelting requires a roasting step before smelting to reduce sulfur content and volatiles. Older nickel-smelting processes, such as blast or reverberatory furnaces, are no longer acceptable because of low energy efficiencies and environmental concerns.
In flash smelting, dry sulfide ore containing less than 1% moisture is fed to the furnace along with preheated air, oxygen-enriched air (30–40% oxygen), or pure oxygen. Iron and sulfur are oxidized. The heat that results from exothermic reactions is adequate to smelt concentrate, producing a liquid matte (up to 45% nickel) and a fluid slag. Furnace matte still contains iron and sulfur, and these are oxidized in the converting step to sulfur dioxide and iron oxide by injecting
air or oxygen into the molten bath.

Hengyang Industry is an Chinese Company based in Zhengzhou city that manufactures, on proprietary technology, plants and equipment for waste recycling and recovery with energy production, material recovery or production of finished goods.

Innovation, R&D, passionate and skilled team along with the customer satisfaction have always been the success of Hengyang and they still are the peculiarities of our Company. Besides the historical Hengyang equipment, like single and double shafts shredders, Crushing machine, briquetting machines, separators, squeezers and centrifuges, the Company offers a wide range of turn-key plants, among which:

• briquetting and pelletizing plants
• shredding plants
• Waste Sorting Plants
• Bio-fuel Plants
• Waste to Power Recycling Plants
• Mining Plants
• OEM Equipments
……..
Hengyang is able to develop customized solutions too.
Designed, constructed and assembled by the same Hengyang

The Company policy focuses on product quality: robustness and functionality of the machines that maintain their value over time.
The ability to challenge ideas and concepts and to interact with partners worldwide has allowed and still allows Hengyang to stay highly competitive and to be an ideal partner for the world market.