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“Around the Nickel World in Eighty Days”: A Virtual Tour of World Nickel Sulphide and Laterite Operations and Technologies

2021; Springer International Publishing; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-030-65647-8_1

2367-1181

A. Vahed, P. J. Mackey, A. E. M. Warner,

Metal Extraction and Bioleaching

The world production of nickel at 2.36 million tonnes in 2019 ranks fifth in the output of non-ferrous metals after aluminum, copper, zinc and lead. Nickel is produced from both sulphide ores—representing ~30% of world nickel production—and oxide ores—representing ~70% of world nickel production, with nickel now a vital component in batteries which will power much of the new electric transportation age. The top ten nickel smelter producing countries (2019) include in order: China, Indonesia, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Caledonia, Brazil, Finland, Philippines and Japan. The present paper takes the reader on a virtual tour of most of the nickel sulphide and nickel laterite plants throughout the world with a focus on smelter facilities. Operations and technology employed at each plant visited on the virtual tour are discussed including a brief historical sketch. Future trends identified during the world tour are also discussed with respect to technology and products. The present authors considered that enough time was required for a thorough study tour and settled on eighty days—the same as that for the celebrated fictional story of world circumnavigation in the 1870s—a time when nickel was in its infancy and considered a rare metal.