Direct purification of a nickel laterite leaching effluent

1. A direct purification process of a nickel laterite leaching effluent, comprising:

providing a nickel laterite leaching solution;

adjusting the pH of the nickel laterite leaching solution to be between 1.0 and 3.0;

contacting the pH-adjusted nickel laterite leaching solution with a bis-picolylamine ion exchange resin to adsorb nickel and copper selectively over iron and cobalt; and

recovering nickel, wherein the pH-adjusted leaching solution is fed at a temperature between 0° C. and 100° C., and at a flow rate of 5 to 50 BV/h.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the pH of the leaching solution is adjusted to be between 1.5 and 2.0.

3. The process according to claims 1 , wherein the leaching solution is fed at a temperature between 20 and 70° C.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the leaching solution is fed at a flow rate of 15 to 25 BV/h.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the ion exchange resin is used in a counter-current continuous system.

6. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising removing solids prior to adjusting of the pH.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein nickel and copper are selectively adsorbed over ferric or ferrous iron from the leaching solution as it passes through the ion exchange resin.

8. The process of claim 1 , further comprising precipitating cobalt from the effluent of the resin raffinate.

9. The process of claim 8 , further comprising crystallizing magnesium sulfate from the raffinate effluent from the precipitation of cobalt.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the recovering of the nickel comprises contacting the ion exchange resin eluate with an acid retardation resin followed by nickel precipitation.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the nickel laterite leaching solution contains copper that is recovered from the ion exchange resin.