Process for separating limonite and saprolite

Provided is a method for separating nickel containing lateritic ore into limonite and saprolite fractions, the method including the steps of : (a) providing said lateritic ore in particulate form; (b) forming a slurry of said particulate ore; and (c) subjecting the ore slurry to a size separation procedure to separate the limonite and saprolite fractions on a selected threshold particle size basis wherein the threshold particle size is determined by i) providing a representative sample of said lateritic ore containing said limonite and saprolite fractions, each having a characteristic compositional range of at least one indicator element, ii) subjecting said sample to a particle size classification procedure in which the sample is separated into a number of particle size fractions; iii) analysing a selected number of the particle size fractions to determine the amount of said at least one indicator element in each fraction analysed; and iv) determining said threshold particle size based on the analysis of the