Selective Nickel Recovery from the Magnetic Fraction of Chrysotile Asbestos Beneficiation Waste Using Organic Acids

Chrysotile asbestos beneficiation waste poses a significant environmental challenge while representing an underutilized secondary source of nickel. In this study, we investigated the selective leaching of a nickel-enriched magnetic fraction using citric, acetic, oxalic, and tartaric acids combined with comparative kinetic modeling. Citric acid achieved the highest nickel extraction (82.6%), outperforming acetic (61.8%), oxalic (39.2%), and tartaric (26.1%) acids. Kinetic analysis showed that the Drozdov–Rotinyan model best described the process ( = 0.9837), indicating a mixed reaction–diffusion mechanism with an apparent activation energy of 21.0 kJ mol^-1. Iron dissolution remained low (2.1%–13.5%), producing Ni/Fe selectivity up to 19.2. The extraction and kinetic results indicate that nickel recovery involves proton-assisted mineral dissolution, ligand stabilization of dissolved Ni²⁺, and diffusion-related resistance. This study provides mechanistic insight into selective nickel extraction from iron-rich technogenic materials and demonstrates the potential of organic-acid leaching for chrysotile asbestos beneficiation waste valorization.

Nickel recovery; Organic-acid leaching; Reaction–diffusion mechanism; Selective dissolution; Technogenic waste

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