THE NICKEL POSITION OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE Ever since the superiority of armorplate made from nickel steel was discovered about 1889, nickel has been an important alloying element in the construction of war materiel, where qualities of strength, toughness, and resistance to corrosion, wear, and heat, as well as other special and useful properties are required. Nickel is also a metal of peace and some of the greatest developments in its use have been in the things of everyday life. Indicative of the versatility of nickel is that over 3,000 alloys in current use contain a fraction to something less than 100 percent nickel. Facilities for production, although ample for peacetime, are inadequate to meet mobilization needs, and new sources have to be developed and additional smelting and refining plants built. Production capacity adequate to meet wartime needs is greatly in excess of peacetime requirements. Expansion of existing production facilities now under way and facilities being installed to serve newly developed deposits will result in capacity in North America to produce nearly 200,000 short tons of nickel in 1956. A large strategic stockpile of nickel would make possible the meeting of mobilization demand without inordinate expansion of peacetime production capacity. Unfortunately, the stockpile accumulation at present is far short of its objective and, consequently, large expansion of production and capacity is necessary. Canada not only dominates nickel production at present but is likely to maintain that position for many years because of the richness in both nickel and copper and enormous reserves. Canada supplied about 86 percent of the freeworld production of nickel in 1952. The United States, the largest consumer, produced less than 1 percent. RESERVES Probably two-thirds of the reserves of nickel ore in the world are in the Western Hemisphere, which is estimated to have a total of at least 3 billion tons containing perhaps 30 million tons of nickel. And about 97 percent of the reserves of the Western Hemisphere are in North America. However, despite the enormous potential reserves of nickel in the Western Hemisphere, economic ore deposits are exceedingly rare. A notable exception is the Sudbury district in Ontario and the Lynn Lake area in northern Manitoba, Canada, where the sulfide deposits have large reserves, are rich in nickel and copper, and also carry important byproducts. Elsewhere, many of the reserves are small, are less rich in nickel, and most are lacking in important values in byproduct metals and, consequently, operation at many of the deposits would not be economic and for other deposits processes for the treatment of the ores have not been developed. Accordingly, the nickel industry has been centered in Canada, which for many years has supplied the bulk of the world supply of nickel ore. Both the International Nickel Company of Canada, Ltd., and Falconbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd., have large reserves of sulfide ore in the Sudbury district, have developed mines, and have smelting and refining facilities. Sherritt Gordon Mines, Ltd., has substantial reserves of sulfide ore in the Lynn Lake area, a developed mine, and is installing refining facilities. Moreover, there is a possibility that the newly discovered deposits of sulfide ore in the Yukon Territory might prove large enough to warrant establishment of smelting and refining facilities. Therefore, despite the increase in production from other sources, Canada will, as heretofore, continue for many years to be the predominant producing country. Because the nickeliferous iron ores of eastern Cuba are the world's largest potential sources of nickel, because of its nearness to the United States, and because a process for the conversion of the ore to commercial oxide has been developed, the Cuban deposits offer the best opportunity outside of Canada to augment the world supply of nickel. Nevertheless, thus far only the deposits in the Levisa area are equipped with a plant for treatment of the ore. The plant is at Nicaro. Except for a small quantity of nickel produced in the United States, Cuba is the only other nickel-producing country in the Western Hemisphere outside of Canada. Currently, the plant in Cuba is being operated at capacity, which is 14,000 to 15,000 short tons of nickel in oxide annually. Beginning early 1954 sintered oxide will be produced. Although the Cuban ores also contain cobalt, iron, and chromium, thus far at the Nicaro plant only the nickel and some of the cobalt (but not as separate products) have been recovered. Profitable exploitation of the Cuban ores will depend upon the economic recovery of all the valuable constitutents. A pilot plant is now in operation with the view to developing a process to separate the nickel and cobalt. An economic process for the conversion of oxide to metal ། has been developed by the Bureau of Mines. The Bureau of Mines is now conducting metallurgical studies to develop an improved and lower cost method of extraction of nickel and for recovering the associated cobalt, chromium, and iron. The geographical remoteness of the Tocantins deposits in Brazil, the scarcity of labor, and the excessive cost of power, fuel, and freight are factors which preclude their economic exploitation. Although the deposits of nickel silicate ore at Loma de Hierro, Venezuela, are reported to be large and are favorable for mechanized mining by open pit, the ore cannot be treated economically by current smelting practice. As for the United States, there is little hope for it to become an important producer of nickel, unless an economic and feasible method is developed for recovering the nickel in low-grade nickeliferous iron ores and unless further exploration of certain sulfide deposit should disclose substantially larger reserves. Production of nickel ore in 1952 and estimated reserves of nickel ore in the UNITED STATES POSITION Currently, the United States is producing a few hundred tons of new nickel, which is less than 1 percent of its requirements. This unfavorable position will be improved somewhat when the two most important deposits in tonnage and grade, the sulfide-ore deposit at Fredericktown, Mo., and the silicate-ore deposit at Riddle, Oreg., are brought into production. Planned annual production at the Fredericktown operation, which is expected to begin the latter part of 1953, is 926 short tons. Projected annual production at the Riddle operation is 7,000 to 9,000 tons of nickel contained in ferronickel and initial production is expected late in 1954. The other higher grade sulfide ores are found in small bodies in widely separated parts of the country. Most of them are small and expensive to explore; and they are too few to warrant establishment of a smelting industry. The larger bodies contain scarcely more than a few hundred tons of nickel in ore whose average grade is 1 to 3 percent. The potentially more important sulfide deposits are those at Yakobi Island, Alaska, and at Mouat, Mont., in which the larger and better grade bodies have an average nickel content of 0.4 percent. The other deposits of silicate ore are much smaller in tonnage and lower in grade than the deposit at Riddle, Oreg. The potential tonnage of nickeliferous iron ores at Cle Elum, Wash., and elsewhere in the United States is large but the grade is low, and an economic and feasible method of recovery of the nickel has not been developed. Accordingly, although the total reserves of sulfide and nickeliferous ores are substantial, there is little hope that the unfavorable position of the United States with respect to production of nickel could be improved unless further exploration of certain sulfide deposits should disclose substantially larger reserves and an economic process is developed for treatment of extremely low-grade nickeliferous ore. Therefore, despite the potential increase in domestic production, the United States will continue to be dependent on foreign sources for 90 percent or more of its supply of new nickel. CANADA POSITION At present the nickel industry is centered chiefly in the Sudbury district in Ontario, Canada, which for many years has supplied the bulk of the world supply of nickel ore. The International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd., operates five mines in the Sudbury district, smelters at Copper Cliff and Coniston, Ontario, and refineries at Port Colborne, Ontaria, Clydach, Wales, and Huntington, W. Va. The Falconbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd., operates two mines in the Sudbury district, a smelter at Falconbridge, Ontario, and a refinery at Kristiansand, Norway. Both of the concerns are expanding production facilities. The East Rim and Milnet mines, also in the Sundbury district. were brought into production in 1952. The refinery of Sherritt Gordon Mines, Ltd., at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, which will treat ore from Lynn Lake, Manitoba, is scheduled for completion in December 1953. Annual planned production from company ore is 8,500 tons. The Sherritt Gordon Mines, Ltd., has taken a small participation in Western Nickel, Ltd., which has acquired a nickel property at Choate, British Columbia. Western Nickel, Ltd., has concluded a contract with Defense Materials Procurement Agency to deliver nickel to the United States Government. The concentrates produced will probably be refined by Sherritt Gordon. With completion of these expansion programs it is estimated that equipped mines in Canada will have capacity to produce about 174,000 short tons of nickel. The largest reserves of developed sulfide ores of nickel in the world are those of the Sudbury district of Canada. As of December 31, 1952, the proved ore reserves of the International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd., were 256,356,000 short tons containing 7,795,000 tons of nickel-copper, and the developed and indicated reserves of Falconbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd., were 32.987,000 tons containing 538,000 tons of nickel. At the 1952 rate of production the reserves of these two companies were sufficient for 19 and 30 years, respectively. Probably the second largest reserves of sulfide ores of nickel are in the Lynn Lake area of northern Manitoba, where Sherritt Gordon Mines, Ltd., and other companies have holdings. The small amount of exploration done by Sherritt Gordon indicated ore reserves of 14,055,000 tons containing 172,000 tons of nickel. A new nickel-producing area might result from recent discoveries of sulfide ore in the Yukon Territory. Too little exploration has been done to determine the extent of the reserves, but the limited drilling done has revealed ore of high grade. CUBA POSITION The Cuban Nickel Co., a United States Government corporation, owns a nickelproducing plant and townsite at Nicaro, Cuba. The plant was completed and began operating in late 1943. Operation ceased March 31, 1947. Meanwhile, 3,323,075 dry short tons of ore containing 91,702,615 pounds of nickel were processed, from which 82,735,148 pounds of oxide containing 63,571,414 pounds of nickel plus cobalt were recovered. The plant has an annual capacity of about 15,000 short tons of nickel. Rehabilitation of the plant was started early in 1951 and 4 of the 12 furnaces were put into operation January 31, 1952. The last two furnaces were put into operation July 7. During the year 11,604 tons of oxide containing 8,958 tons of nickel plus cobalt were produced. The nickeliferous iron ores of eastern Cuba are the world's largest potential sources of nickel. These deposits are estimated to total at least 3 billion tons of ore containing about 24 million tons of nickel. However, the average low content of nickel in the deposits, combined with the finely divided distribution of the nickel in an iron-rich material, has made it relatively costly to obtain a product of high nickel content. Nevertheless the nearness of Cuba to the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf ports of the United States gives it importance as a source of nickel. The Cuban deposits offered the best opportunity to augment the world supply of nickel in World War II and the United States Government erected a plant at Nicaro to produce nickel oxide. Ore for the plant was supplied from deposits in the vicinity of Levisa Bay, approximately 81⁄2 miles by rail from the plant. Currently, ore from these deposits is being used. As of June 30, 1945, the total ore reserves of the Levisa group were estimated at 31 million tons averaging 1.39 percent nickel. Competition of Cuban nickel with that of Canada is handicapped by the fact that Canadian ore contains many commercial byproducts which the Nicaro ore does not have, such as copper, platinum metals, gold, silver, selenium, and tellurium, which are simultaneously recovered with the nickel. Although the Nicaro ore also contains cobalt, iron, and chormium, thus far only the nickel and some of the cobalt, but not as separate products, have been recovered. A pilot plant has been installed with the view of developing a process to separate the nickel and cobalt. A sintering plant is under construction at Nicaro; completion is scheduled about December 31, 1953. An economic process for the conversion of oxide to metal has been developed by the Bureau of Mines, but no decision has yet been reached concerning the erection of a reduction unit. Profitable exploitation of the nickel-bearing iron ores of Cuba will depend on the economic recovery of all the valuable constituents. The Bureau of Mines is conducting metallurgical studies to develop an improved and lower-cost method of extraction of nickel and for recovering the associated cobalt, chromium, and iron from the laterite and serpentine ores. The ore going to the Nicaro plant in June 1952 contained 1.38 percent nickel, 0.1 percent cobalt, 38 percent iron, and probably 1% percent Cr2O. If all these valuable constituents could be recovered, the gross value would be nearly $24 a dry short ton. The nickeliferous iron-ore deposits in the Mayari district contain the largest reserve of nickel in the world. Indeed, the deposits contain enough nickel to supply the world at an annual rate of production of 175,000 tons for at least 50 years, provided an economic process could be developed for recovering the nickel. The deposits are about 1,600 feet above sea level on a plateau about 20 miles from the coast. The ore lies at the surface with no overburden. It contains, on a dry basis, slightly less than 1 percent nickel, about 49 percent iron, 3 percent chrome, and a little cobalt. The Bethlehem Steel Co. has made a persistent effort to utilize the deposits as a source of iron ore. However, as the nickel and chromium remain with the iron, the sale and use of iron and steel made from the ore has been strictly limited. The deposits in the Moa Bay area are next in importance to the Mayari deposits. The Moa Bay deposits are about 65 miles east of the Levisa Bay deposits and only a few miles from tidewater. The Moa Bay ore contains more nickel and less iron than the Mayari ore. Discovery of a large deposit of nickel ore as a result of extensive exploration recently completed in the Moa Bay area was announced by Freeport Sulphur Co. The deposit is reported to contain at least 40 million tons of ore averaging about 1.35 percent nickel and 0.14 percent cobalt. The Freeport Sulphur Co. hopes to be in commercial production of nickel in 1955, with a minimum initial output of 30 million pounds annually. BRAZIL POSITION Approximately 50 deposits of nickel-silicate ore occur in an area of 14 square miles north of São José do Tocantins, State of Goias. Conservative estimates of reserves indicate that the district as a whole may contain as much as 16 million tons of ore averaging between 1 and 3 percent nickel. About 1,400,000 tons of ore are available that have an average tenor of 4.5 percent nickel, with a possible yield from the district of as much as 5 million tons averaging 4 percent nickel. The American Smelting & Refining Co. had an interest in the Tocantins deposit, but abandoned it in 1944 chiefly because the pioneer conditions, due to geographical remoteness of the mine, the scarcity of labor, and the excessive cost of power, fuel, and freight were factors whose combined effect could not be successfully overcome. The deposits are accessible to the seacoast only by 200 miles of road south to Anapolis and thence 800 miles by rail to the port of Santos on the Atlantic Ocean. Small deposits of nickel silicate ore are at Livramento and Ipanema in southern Minas Gerais. Each of the deposits contain a probable reserve of 200,000 tons and a possible reserve of 2 million tons averaging about 1.5 percent nickel. Some ore from the Livramento deposits has been used in an electric furnace to produce ferronickel. VENEZUELA POSITION Large deposits of nickel silicate ore have been found at Loma de Hierro. Some exploration has been done by the International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd. Data on ore reserves have not been published, but press notes have indicated that reserves exceed 30 million tons averaging about 1.75 percent nickel. The ore is reported to also contain a little cobalt and manganese and considerable iron and magnesium. The topographic situation of the ore-bearing blankets is very favorable for mechanized mining from open pits, from which the ore could be transferred to river site by aerial tramway. NEW CALEDONIA POSITION Excluding the U. S. S. R., New Caledonia is the only important nickel-ore producing country outside the Western Hemisphere. The largest ore-producing centers are at Thio on the east coast and Voh and Koné on the west coast. Production of nickel ore (containing about 25 percent moisture) was 392,050 metric tons in 1952 compared with 252,335 tons in 1951. The nickel content (dried) of the ore averaged 3.60 and 3.53 percent respectively, in 1952 and 1951. Most of the ore is converted to matte, fonte, and ferronickel in New Caledonia; the matte is exported to La Havre, France, for refining. In 1952, 97935 tons (wet) of ore averaging 3.41 percent nickel (dried) was exported to Japan and 11,905 tons averaging 5.6 percent nickel was shipped to France. Figures on tonnage and grade of reserves of nickel ore in New Caledonia have not been published, but according to company figures the reserves are adequate to maintain an output of 12,000 metric tons of metallic nickel annually for 80 years. SOURCES OF SUPPLY FOR UNITED STATES In 1952 the United States obtained 87.2 percent of its supply of new nickel from Canada, 6.7 percent from Cuba, 5.4 percent from Norway, 0.6 percent from domestic production, and 0.1 percent from United Kingdom. The nickel received from Canada and Norway, and presumably that from United Kingdom, was produced from ore mined in the Sudbury disrtict of Ontario, whereas that received from Cuba was produced from ore mined in the Levisa Bay area in Oriente Province. |