Nikkelverk is a refinery and sulphuric acid plant 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.

Location Map

Operations
The Nikkelverk refinery uses a chlorine leach and electro-winning process to separate and recover component metals. It is an extremely 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 Sudbury and Raglan 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.

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 treats the silver, gold and precious metals contained in the Sudbury and Raglan feeds and in the feed from other sources.

• 71,410 tonnes nickel
• 35,643 tonnes copper cathodes
• 4,670 tonnes cobalt

Flowsheets
Nikkelverk Refinery

Employees
The plant employs approximately 500 people.

History
Nikkelverk opened in 1910 as Kristiansands Nikkelraffineringsverk and was acquired by Falconbridge June 14, 1929. The refinery plays an important role in the city of Kristiansand and is one of the major industrial employers of southern Norway.