Canadian Patent Application No.: CA 2585541
Abstracts
An improved method of reducing a mixed metal oxide composition comprising oxides of nickel, cobalt, copper and iron in a hydrogen atmosphere to produce a mixture of the respective metals, the improvement wherein the atmosphere further comprises water vapour at a concentration, temperature and time to effect selective reduction of the oxides of nickel cobalt and copper relative to the iron oxide to produce the metallic mixture having a reduced ratio of metallic iron relative to metallic nickel, cobalt and copper.