Nickel

Nickel is a bright silvery metal with outstanding corrosion resistance, chemical resistance and high temperature endurance. Recognisable as the coating on glass mirrors, the majority goes into the production of stainless steel and alloy steel. It is also an important alloy with non-ferrous metals, such as copper and aluminium. On top of this, it is used in batteries and as a coating in metal plating.

Nickel superalloys, such as with chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu), have exceptional mechanical properties and chemical resistance at very high temperature. They are utilised in the most demanding marine, chemical, raw material processing, food manufacturing and aerospace applications.

Nickel production is energy intensive and results in significant CO2 emissions. The amount depends on the source of nickel and type of ore, with ores coming from remote and inaccessible areas requiring a great deal of infrastructure to be built. As all of the more accessible nickel deposits and relatively lower energy demand ores are extracted, companies are inevitably moving on to more challenging sites, which will lead to an increased embodied energy and carbon footprint.