	US 11,926,884 B2
	Pyrometallurgical process for recovering nickel, manganese, and cobalt
Lennart Scheunis, Olen (BE); and Isabel Vermeulen, Olen (BE)
Assigned to Umicore, Brussels (BE)
Appl. No. 17/779,782
Filed by UMICORE, Brussels (BE)
PCT Filed Nov. 27, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/082758 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 25, 2022, PCT Pub. No. WO2021/104620, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 3, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0002856 A1, Jan. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. C22C 1/02 (2006.01); C22C 22/00 (2006.01); C22C 33/04 (2006.01)

CPC C22C 1/02 (2013.01) [C22C 22/00 (2013.01); C22C 33/04 (2013.01)]

3 Claims

1. Process for the production of Si—Mn alloy from materials containing Ni, Mn and Co, comprising the steps:

a) preparing a metallurgical charge comprising said materials, and Si, Al, Ca, and Mg as slag formers;

b) smelting the charge in first reducing conditions, thereby obtaining a Ni-Co alloy and a first slag, wherein the Ni-Co alloy comprises a major part of at least one of Co and Ni and has a Si content <0.1 wt %, and wherein the first slag comprises a major part of the Mn;

c) separation of the first slag from the Ni-Co alloy; and

d) smelting the first slag in second reducing conditions, more reducing than said first reducing conditions, thereby obtaining a Si-Mn alloy and a second slag, wherein the Si-Mn alloy comprises a major part of the Mn and has a Si content >10 wt %.