COMS

Nickel-bearing ores are seldom in the league of mega-tonnage such as occur in the porphyry copper deposits. The scale and life-of-mine of nickel operations are thus much more limited, and one has to maximize the asset worth by processing efficiency rather than volume. Whereas the nickel market has started to stabilize after the recession of 2008/9, it will be a while before we see the record highs of a few years ago when the metal price peaked at $25/lb. Although nickel operations are often complemented by other payable metals such as copper and the platinum-group elements, under the current market conditions, every gain that can be sustainably made on recovery and grade enhances the business case. It is intended that the conference will attract contributions from experts around the world, to provide a forum for discussion of common problems and possible performance opportunities.