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| TABLE 10 | |||||||||||
| NICKEL: WORLD MINE PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY1 | |||||||||||
| (Metric tons of contained nickel) | |||||||||||
| Country and products2 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | ||||||
| Albania, laterite oree | 600 | 1,000 | 1,400 | 600 | 800 | ||||||
| Australia, ores and concentrate3 | 186,800 | r | 188,900 | r | 185,000 | r | 184,900 | r | 199,200 | ||
| Botswana, ore milled | 35,163 | 39,305 | 38,000 | e | 38,000 | e | 38,000 | e | |||
| Brazil, ore | 44,928 | r | 74,198 | 82,492 | 58,317 | 58,500 | p | ||||
| Burma, oree | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||||
| Canada, concentrate | 186,694 | 199,932 | 232,948 | 254,915 | r | 259,588 | p | ||||
| Chinae, 4 | 75,600 | 72,700 | 82,100 | 67,000 | r | 72,000 | |||||
| Colombia, laterite ore | 75,032 | 89,031 | 94,105 | 99,500 | r | 99,000 | e | ||||
| Cuba, oxide, oxide sinter, oxide powder, sulfide, | |||||||||||
| - ammoniacal liquor5 | 71,945 | 73,753 | 73,371 | r | 73,934 | r | 67,265 | ||||
| Dominican Republic, laterite ore | 46,000 | 53,124 | 47,516 | 47,125 | 31,300 | ||||||
| Finland, concentrate6 | 3,700 | 3,386 | 2,985 | 3,635 | 3,600 | e | |||||
| Greece, laterite ore | 21,700 | 23,210 | 21,670 | 21,190 | 21,100 | e | |||||
| Indonesia, laterite ore | 136,000 | 135,000 | 157,000 | 229,000 | 192,600 | ||||||
| Kazakhstan, laterite ore | -- | 193 | 200 | e | 200 | e | 500 | e | |||
| Kosovo, laterite ore | -- | -- | -- | 2,072 | 7 | 10,486 | 7 | ||||
| Macedonia, ferronickel produced8 | 5,300 | 8,141 | 10,942 | 15,321 | 15,026 | ||||||
| Morocco, nickel sulfate | 130 | 199 | e | 80 | 100 | 100 | e | ||||
| New Caledonia, ore | 118,279 | 111,939 | 102,986 | 125,364 | r | 102,583 | |||||
| Norway, concentrate | 181 | 342 | 320 | 240 | 250 | ||||||
| Philippines: | |||||||||||
| Ore | 16,973 | 26,636 | r | 64,705 | r | 81,288 | r | 73,333 | |||
| Concentrate9 | -- | 4,081 | 8,242 | 10,079 | 10,562 | ||||||
| Total | 16,973 | 30,717 | r | 72,947 | r | 91,367 | r | 83,895 | |||
| Russia, marketable mine production: | |||||||||||
| Laterite ore10 | 33,227 | 34,419 | 37,754 | 45,690 | 36,807 | ||||||
| Sulfide concentrate11 | 235,318 | 242,758 | 239,231 | 234,083 | 230,000 | ||||||
| Total | 268,545 | 277,177 | 276,985 | 279,773 | 266,807 | ||||||
| South Africa, concentrate | 39,851 | 42,392 | 41,599 | 37,917 | r | 31,675 | p | ||||
| Spain, concentrate | -- | r | 5,398 | 6,336 | 6,340 | r | 6,350 | ||||
| Turkey, laterite oree, 12 | 40 | 1,000 | r | 1,500 | r | -- | r | -- | |||
| Ukraine, laterite oree | 6,000 | r | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 | 8,000 | |||||
| Venezuela, laterite oree | 20,468 | 13 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | |||||
| Zambia, concentrate | -- | -- | -- | -- | 751 | p | |||||
| Zimbabwe, concentrate | 9,776 | 8,556 | 8,825 | 7,100 | e | 6,354 | p | ||||
| Grand total | 1,370,000 | r | 1,470,000 | r | 1,570,000 | r | 1,680,000 | r | 1,600,000 | ||
| Of which: | |||||||||||
| Concentrate14 | 476,000 | r | 507,000 | r | 540,000 | r | 554,000 | r | 549,000 | ||
| Ore and ore milled | 215,000 | r | 252,000 | r | 288,000 | r | 303,000 | r | 272,000 | ||
| Laterite ore | 339,000 | r | 362,000 | r | 393,000 | 477,000 | r | 421,000 | |||
| Ferronickel produced | 5,300 | 8,140 | 10,900 | 15,300 | 15,000 | ||||||
| Nickel sulfate | 130 | 199 | e | 80 | 100 | 100 | e | ||||
| Unspecified and/or undifferentiated | 334,000 | r | 335,000 | r | 340,000 | r | 326,000 | r | 338,000 | ||
| eEstimated. pPreliminary. rRevised. -- Zero. | |||||||||||
| 1World totals and estimated data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. | |||||||||||
| 2Insofar as possible, this table represents recoverable mine production of nickel. Where actual mine output is not available,- | |||||||||||
| data related to a more highly processed form have been used to provide an indication of the magnitude of mine output and- | |||||||||||
| this is noted. North Korea may have an active nickel mine, but information is inadequate to make reliable estimates of- | |||||||||||
| output. Table includes data available through July 31, 2009. | |||||||||||
| 3Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) data for mines in Western Australia and Tasmania. | |||||||||||
| 4In 2005, China began importing significant tonnages of lateritic ores from the Philippines to make nickel pig iron. This- | |||||||||||
| material was supplemented by higher-grade lateritic ores from Indonesia and New Caledonia in 2006-08. | |||||||||||
| 5The Government of Cuba reports plant production on a contained nickel plus cobalt basis. The tonnages shown in this- | |||||||||||
| table for Cuba have been adjusted downward to correct for the cobalt. The cobalt content was determined to be 1.16%- | |||||||||||
| TABLE 10-Continued | |||||||||||
| NICKEL: WORLD MINE PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY1 | |||||||||||
| for granular and powdered oxide, 1.21% for oxide sinter, 7.56% for sulfide precipitate, and 33% for leach ammoniacal- | |||||||||||
| precipitate. | |||||||||||
| 6The gross weight of concentrates processed in Finland from domestic ores was, in metric tons, as follows: 2004-45,914;- | |||||||||||
| 2005-39,854; 2006-40,000 (estimated); 2007-41,000 (estimated); and 2008-40,000 (estimated). | |||||||||||
| 7On February 17, 2008, the Kosovo Assembly declared independence from Serbia.- | |||||||||||
| 8Includes production from imported ores. | |||||||||||
| 9Nickel content of concentrate produced at Rio Tuba in 2005-08 by Coral Bay Nickel Corp. | |||||||||||
| 10Nickel content of ore mined in the Ural Mountains region. | |||||||||||
| 11Nickel content of concentrate produced on the Kola and Taimyr Peninsulas. | |||||||||||
| 12European Nickel PLC began large scale heap-leaching trials at its Caldag laterite operation in October 2004. In 2006, the- | |||||||||||
| company began shipping laterite ore to the ferronickel smelter of Larco General Mining and Metallurgical Company SA in | |||||||||||
| -Greece. | |||||||||||
| 13Reported figure. | |||||||||||
| 14Includes -Russia, sulfide concentrate.- | |||||||||||
Source: United States Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program
See also: Mineral commodity prices
