The nickel sulfate was generated during hydrometallurgical bench-scale testing of TMC’s matte samples produced from their upstream pilot plant operations at SGS’s Metallurgical Center of Excellence testing facility in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.
“The Lakefield-based extractive metallurgy team carried out a comprehensive test work program focusing on the optimization of a flowsheet producing cobalt sulfate, nickel sulfate, copper cathode and fertilizer byproducts from nickel matte samples derived from smelting TMC nodules,” Stephen Mackie, director of Metallurgy and Consulting at SGS in North America said in the statement.
The International Seabed Authority has set a 2025 goal to issue rules governing seafloor extraction.
TMC projects are ranked as the world’s first and second largest undeveloped nickel projects, containing in situ quantities of nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese sufficient to meet the needs of 280…


