Xstrata Nickel / Europe
Nikkelverk Refinery
Xstrata Nickel: World > Europe
| Detail label | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | Norway, Europe |
| Products | Refinery and sulphuric acid plant |
| Employees | 500 |
| Annual production capacity | The Nikkelverk refinery has the capacity to process 86,000 tonnes of nickel, 39,000 tonnes of copper cathodes and 5,200 tonnes of cobalt annually. It also produces sulphuric acid and treats the silver, gold and platina metals contained in the Sudbury and Raglan feeds and in the feed from other sources. |
Description of Operation
Nikkelverk is a refinery in Kristiansand, Norway. The primary metals refined at Nikkelverk are nickel, copper, cobalt and precious metals. The plant ranks among the lowest-cost nickel refineries in the western world and is ISO 9001 quality and ISO 14001 environment certified. The Nikkelverk refinery uses a chlorine leach and electro-winning process to separate and recover component metals. It is a cost-efficient process for treating complex raw materials, which achieves high productivity and recoveries. This efficiency allows greater flexibility in sourcing and treating custom feed. The refinery processes a granulated matte produced by the Sudbury smelter operations as well as custom feed from other sources. The granulated matte is crushed to a very fine powder and then transported to the chlorine leach plant. The metals contained in the matte are separated and distributed to the various process areas for further purification and refining. From there, the products are cut, packaged and shipped to world markets.
Brief History of the Operation
Nikkelverk opened in 1910 as Kristiansands Nikkelraffineringsverk and was acquired by Falconbridge on June 14, 1929. Xstrata acquired Falconbridge Limited on August 21, 2006.