Nickel mine

A nickel mine is a mine that produces nickel. Some mines produce nickel primarily, while some mines produce nickel as a side-product of some other metal that has a higher concentration in the ore.

Nickel mine in Senja, Norway

Geology

Most of the world's nickel reserves are in form of lateritic nickel ore deposits.[1] Historically these were also the first source of commercially mined nickel sulphide ores, so that currently most of the nickel which has ever been produced came from nickel sulphide ores.

Strong weathering of ultramafic rocks at the earth's surface in humid conditions causes nickel resources to form inside nickel laterites. Laterites are formed by the breakdown of minerals which then leach into groundwater, the leftover minerals join together to form the new mineral known as laterites. Nickel is turned into useable quality ore grade by being merged into the newly formed stable minerals.[2]

Exploitation

About 40% of the world’s nickel comes from exploitation of nickel laterites. There are two hydrometallurgical methods to extract nickel and cobalt from nickel laterites, these processes are called sulphuric acid leaching and reduction roast-ammonia leaching. For high-magnesium silicates in lower profiles laterites the exploitation method used is smelting.[2]

Reserves and operations

Reserves production

According to the intergovernmental International Nickel Study Group, the countries with the largest volume of nickel ore reserves are Australia (19.5 million metric tons), Brazil (10.5 million metric tons), Russia (7.5 metric tons), New Caledonia (6.5 million metric tons), Cuba (5.5 million metric tons), and the Philippines (just under 5 million metric tons).[3] As of 2017, 33 countries produced nickel ore.[3] Nickel production increased from 2000 to 2013 (when it peaked), decreased from 2014 to 2016, and recovered from 2017 to 2018.[3]

Largest mines and operators

As of 2017, the largest nickel mine operators are (in descending order of kilotonnes mined):[4]

Other large nickel producers include Jinchuan Group Ltd.,[7] the largest nickel producer in China,[8] and Sherritt,[9] a Canadian company from Canada that refines nickel from lateritic ores and has operations in Canada, Cuba, Indonesia and Madagascar.[6]

Usage

According to the intergovernmental International Nickel Study Group, as of 2017, an estimated 75% of primary nickel usage went to stainless steel; 3.7% went to the battery industry; and the remainder went to other applications.[3]

Hazards

A study was conducted by scientists Dan et al on the effects of Nickel smelting fumes, to do this they did the study on NIH/3T3 cells and in the lung tissue of rats. They found that the fumes that the NIH/3T3 cells were transforming into malignant cells meaning that high exposure to Ni-smelting fumes may be harmful as Ni-smelting fumes may be a potential carcinogen in mammalian cells.[10]

In the Philippines

In the 2000s, a nickel boom began centered around Claver, Surigao del Norte in the Philippines; in 2017, the government of the Philippines (then the world's largest exporter of nickel ore) engaged in a crackdown against mine operators accused of violating environmental laws; the government closed the operations of 28 of the Philippine's 41 mining companies.[11] In 2020, the Philippines became the world's largest producer of nickel ore, after Indonesia halted nickel ore exports; both countries had extensively supplied China, the world's largest purchaser of nickel ore.[12] The two largest Philippine nickel companies are Nickel Asia Corp. and Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc.; both operate in the Surigao del Norte region.[13]

Nickel mine pollution
Nickel Rim mine in Sudbury, Ontario

From 1953 to 1958 Nickel Rim mines operating around Sudbury, Ontario deposited their mine tailings in an impoundment near the mine. The water in the impoundment was later tested and found to have low pH and high concentrations of iron, sulphur and dissolved metals such as aluminum and nickel. This is due to the oxidation of the tailings (usually sulfide minerals like pyrrhotite).[14]

The limited oxygen diffusing into the layers[15] causes the tailings oxidize for a longer period of time, for this reason the water at the impoundment is going to discharge water with high concentrations of iron and sulphate for at least the next 50 years.[16]

A study found that the Mount Keith Nickel Mine which is an open pit mine in Western Australia is sequestering[17] and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide through enhanced weathering of mineral waste, this means that this mean is offsetting approximately 11% of the annual greenhouse gas emissions released by this mine.[17]

References
  1. Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum Group Metals, Elsevier, pp. 553–558, 2011, doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-096809-4.10044-9, ISBN 978-0-08-096809-4, retrieved 2020-04-08 Missing or empty |title= (help); |chapter= ignored (help)
  2. Elias, Mick. "Nickel laterite deposits – geological overview, resources and exploitation". ResearchGate.
  3. The World Nickel Factbook 2018, International Nickel Study Group (2019).
  4. Michael McCrae, Top nickel miners ranked, Mining.com (September 18, 2018).
  5. Pini, Barbara; Mayes, Robyn; McDonald, Paula (2010). "The emotional geography of a mine closure: a study of the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia". Social & Cultural Geography. 11 (6): 559–574. doi:10.1080/14649365.2010.497850. ISSN 1464-9365. S2CID 128372835.
  6. Terence Bell. "The Biggest Nickel Producers". The Balance.
  7. Li, X.; Wang, S. J.; Liu, T. Y.; Ma, F. S. (2004-12-01). "Engineering geology, ground surface movement and fissures induced by underground mining in the Jinchuan Nickel Mine". Engineering Geology. Engineering Geology in China. 76 (1): 93–107. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2004.06.008. ISSN 0013-7952.
  8. China's Jinchuan to buy miner Tyler, The Wall Street Journal Asia (January 8, 2008).
  9. Plasket, R. P.; Romanchuk, S. (1978-03-01). "Recovery of nickel and copper from high-grade matte at Impala Platinum by the Sherritt process". Hydrometallurgy. 3 (2): 135–151. doi:10.1016/0304-386X(78)90016-6. ISSN 0304-386X.
  10. Han, Dan; Yang, Yue; Zhang, Lin; Wang, Chao; Wang, Yue; Tan, Wen‐Qiao; Hu, Xue‐Ying; Wu, Yong‐Hui (September 2016). "Nickel‐smelting fumes increased the expression of HIF‐1α through PI3K/ERK pathway in NIH/3T3 cells". Journal of Occupational Health. 58 (5): 413–424. doi:10.1539/joh.15-0287-OA. ISSN 1341-9145. PMC 5356975. PMID 27488040.
  11. Aurora Almendral, Philippines Moves to Shut Mines Accused of Polluting, New York Times (April 27, 2017).
  12. "Philippines set to become world's top nickel ore producer again, surpassing Indonesia". Kyodo News. September 20, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  13. Enrico Dela Cruz, Philippine nickel miners to restart coronavirus-shuttered sites (April 28, 2020).
  14. McGregor, R. G.; Blowes, D. W.; Jambor, J. L.; Robertson, W. D. (1998-12-01). "Mobilization and attenuation of heavy metals within a nickel mine tailings impoundment near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada". Environmental Geology. 36 (3): 305–319. doi:10.1007/s002540050346. ISSN 1432-0495. S2CID 129891810.
  15. McGregor, R. G; Blowes, D. W (2002-10-01). "The physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of three cemented layers within sulfide-bearing mine tailings". Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 76 (3): 195–207. doi:10.1016/S0375-6742(02)00255-8. ISSN 0375-6742.
  16. Johnson, R.H; Blowes, D.W; Robertson, W.D; Jambor, J.L (January 2000). "The hydrogeochemistry of the Nickel Rim mine tailings impoundment, Sudbury, Ontario". Journal of Contaminant Hydrology. 41 (1–2): 49–80. Bibcode:2000JCHyd..41...49J. doi:10.1016/S0169-7722(99)00068-6.
  17. Wilson, Siobhan A.; Harrison, Anna L.; Dipple, Gregory M.; Power, Ian M.; Barker, Shaun L. L.; Ulrich Mayer, K.; Fallon, Stewart J.; Raudsepp, Mati; Southam, Gordon (2014-06-01). "Offsetting of CO2 emissions by air capture in mine tailings at the Mount Keith Nickel Mine, Western Australia: Rates, controls and prospects for carbon neutral mining". International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. 25: 121–140. doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.04.002. hdl:10289/8967. ISSN 1750-5836.
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