UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



NICKEL 



By Henry R. Cornwall 



CONTENTS 



Abstract of conclusions 



Introduction 



Exploitation problems 



Geologic environment 



Geochemistry 



Nickel minerals 



Types of deposits 



Sulfide deposits 



Nickeliferous laterite deposits 



Resources 



Identified resources 



Speculative resources 



Prospecting techniques 



Problems for research 



References cited 



TABLES 



86. Nickel minerals 



87. World nickel-sulfide resources - 



88. World nickel-laterite resources 



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ABSTRACT OF CONCLUSIONS 



At the present time the free world requirement of nearly 

 1 billion pounds of nickel per year is supplied from deposits 

 of nickel sulfides, mostly in Canada, and of nickel laterites, 

 mainly in New Caledonia. World resources from these types 

 of deposits are estimated to total 70 million tons (140 bil- 

 lion pounds) of nickel in 7 billion tons of material averag- 

 ing about 1 percent nickel. An additional 7 billion tons 

 averaging 0.2 percent nickel, or 14 million tons of nickel, is 

 estimated for sulfide deposits in the United States. The 

 0.2—0.4 percent of nickel universally disseminated in perido- 

 tites and serpentinites throughout the world amounts to a 

 figure several orders of magnitude greater than 70 million 

 tons, as does the quantity of nickel contained in deep-sea 

 mangenese nodules; but new technological developments will 

 be required to recover nickel successfully from these two 

 types of occurrence. The discovery in 1949 at Thompson, 



Manitoba, of a major new type of nickel sulfide deposit sug- 

 gests the possibility that similar deposits may exist else- 

 where in the world. 



INTRODUCTION 



Nickel is vital to the economic welfare and se- 

 curity of the United States, as it is also to the 

 other industrial nations of the world. This is illus- 

 trated by examining the uses of nickel. In 1970 

 (U.S. Bureau of Minfis, 1970, Minerals Yearbook) 

 the United States consumption was: 



steel 



Super alloys 



Nickel-copper alloys 



Permanent magnet alloys 



Other nickel alloys 



Cast irons 



Electroplating 



Chemicals 



Other 



Total 



Consumptio 



{■million 

 pounds) 



124 

 23 

 13 



5 

 71 

 10 

 50 



2 

 14 



312 



Free world consumption (Metals Week, Jan. 3, 

 1972) in 1970 and 1971, by area, was as follows: 



ConsuTnption 

 (mitlion pounds) 



Area 



1970 1971 



Western Europe and United Kingdom. _ 376 327 



United States 330 273 



Japan 202 172 



Canada 33 24 



Australia 9 9 



Other 25 20 



Total 975 825 



The United States obtains most of its nickel from 

 foreign sources — mainly Canada. Since 1966 the 

 primary production of nickel in the United States 

 has averaged 26 million pounds per year. The re- 

 mainder of the nickel consumed has come almost 

 entirely from Canada. The United States is thus 

 almost completely dependent on foreign sources of 

 nickel under present economic conditions. 



U.S. GEOL. SURVEY PROF. PAPER 820 



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