NOTES ON NICKEL. 77 



NOTES ON NICKEL. 



By George Mickle, B.A. 



{Read 26th March, i8gi) 



The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly the history of Nickel 

 and the Nickel production down to the discovery of the Canadian deposits. 

 What the history of Nickel in the future will be is impossible to foresee 

 and depends on many uncertain factors. Nickel occurs in nature : — 



(i) As native Nickel in meteorites, and one occurrence is reported in 

 Greenland in basalt. 



(2) In combination with Oxygen — Ni O as Bunsenite, but only as a 

 mineral curiosity — occurs in small green octahedrons of glassy lustre. 



(3) With Carbon dioxide — as Texasite ; occurs as a fine coating over 

 Chromeiron ore in Texas, Spain. 



(4) With Silica. There are a number of compounds of Nickel and 

 Silica, and they play an important part. The few specimens here will serve 

 as types of the rest. First we have Chrysopras and Chrysopal, which 

 are simply Quartz and opal respectively, containing a small amount of 

 Nickel Oxide. 



Then there are a number of Silicates with slightly varying amounts of 

 water and having all a greenish appearance. One will serve as a type 

 of the rest. 



The most important, however, of the silicates is the Garnierite (of New 

 Caledonia). It is a Magnesia Silicate containing varying amounts of 

 Nickel. I have here also another Magnesia Silicate containing Nickel. 

 The Silicates deserve attention, not only because a large part of the 

 supply of Nickel is derived from Silicates, but also because important 

 finds of Silicates are reported in various parts of the world. 



In combination with Sulphuric Acid it occurs in nature only as a 

 curiosity (Lake Huron, Spain). 



The arsenic compounds of Nickel are — 



Nickeline Ni As light copper red in color, high specific gravity; 

 frequently has a green coating ; an important mineral. 



Chloanthite Ni Aso tin white in color, crystalized in cubes ; also im- 

 portant. 



Rammelsbergite Ni AS2, belongs to the rhombic system. 



In combination with Sulphur, as Millerite Ni S, brass yellow color, 



