Nickel, primary/virgin

The dataset includes the underground mining of the ore, the transfering of the ore to the beneficiation facility, the grounding of the ore, the gravity concentration of the ore, the flotation step, and a world-share representative mix of pyrometallurgical steps (roasting, smelting and converting) and hydrometallurgical steps. The dataset does not include the handling of tailings and overburden, nor the ammoniac and triisooctylamine consumption in copper separation by leaching step, nor the chlorine consumption and emissions in the electrolysis step. Mining is done underground, followed by beneficiation trough flotation where considerable amounts of agents and lime are added. Overburden and tailings are disposed on the mining site and partly re-filled. This module covers the five major production routes, aggregated according to their market share in 1994. Sulphur dioxide in the off-gas is recovered producing sulphuric acid. For electricity mix a mix of 60% hydropower and 40% electricity at grid was chosen.