Found a few interesting facts about nickel sulphides from an old Aussie research report (2007), just in case the rumors about KC are true:
Sulphides versus Laterites: Our preference for nickel sulphide miners over nickel laterite is shown not only by the vastly reduced cash costs but also due to the lower total costs overleaf.
Simple, High Margin Sulphides
• Our preferred exposure to higher nickel prices is through the nickel sulphide miners.
• The ASX listed nickel sulphide miners below all mine ore, upgrade it by simple flotation concentration (via 3rd party plant in the case of IGO, MCR and SMY) and sell a concentrate.
• They have no requirement for the large capex items and high technical risk of either a smelter or a laterite processing plant and are comparatively low-risk, capex unintensive,
operate on higher margins and are becoming scarcer (more valuable).
Nickel sulphides are scarce: Laterite deposits form +70% of the world?s known nickel resources, consequently they are the future of nickel production. Despite laterites being more
common, sulphide deposits which still make up 70% of current production are becoming scarcer.
Sulphides are simpler: While sulphides use standard (simple) flotation and smelting, resulting in much lower processing costs laterites rely on the much more complex HPAL method (Minara,
Ravensthorpe, Goro) which is still being refined or leaching (Caldag Turkey) which is still unproven on a commercial scale.
Let's hope those rumors are true.
GLTA,
RTR
