Mineralogical and Chemical Characteristics of Lateritic Nickel Profiles at Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study is to analyze the mineralogical and chemical characteristics of lateritic nickel profiles at the Mining Permit area of Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi. Two profiles of nickel laterite were arranged from eight core samples of two drill holes. For mineralogical study, petrographic analysis were performed for two bedrock samples, while XRD analysis were conducted for eight bedrock, saprolite, and limonite samples. For chemical analysis, the whole eight samples were analyzed using XRF methode. The results showed the nickel laterite in the study area consists of four layers, namely bedrock, rocky saprolite (bluezone saprolite), saprolite, and limonite. The bedrock is serpentinized harzburgite which is composed of olivine, enstatite and lizardite. For the two profiles, the bluezone saprolite are composed of antigorite, enstatite, lizardite, quartz, and magnetite. The saprolite zone consist of enstatite, goethite, antigorite, magnetite, and quartz. While the limonite zone are composed of goethite, magnetite, and hematite. Chemically, the bedrock is characterized by significant concentration of SiO 2 and MgO which reflects the presence olivine. pyroxene, and serpentine in the bedrock. The Ni grade in the saprolite zone is much higher than in the bluezone saprolite, around 1.45 to 1.39% and 0.23 to 0.20% respectively. Meanwhile, the limonite zone is very typically characterized by high Fe content, which ranges from 73.23 to 72.12%.

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