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Nickel

15432.75 USD/Mt -703.25 (-4.36%) (Last updated - June 03, 2025 12:53 AM UTC )

Day High

23561

Day Low

22037.5

Previous Close

22470

52 Week Range

17707.5 - 86791.5

Change YTD

-11.65%

About

Performance USD/oz	Change
5 Day	-1.96%
1 Month	-5.74%
3 Months	-10.76%
6 Months	-11.65%
52 Week	-11.65%

June 03, 2025 12:53 AM UTC

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Nickel is the fifth most abundant element on the earth and is around a hundred times more concentrated beneath the earth’s crust. After iron, nickel is considered to be the second most abundant element in the earth’s inner core. Nickel is a silvery-white lustrous metal. The metal when powdered records significant chemical action but thanks to its high oxidation properties, it is soon coated with an oxide layer on the surface. Due to the high chemical reactivity of the metal, pure nickel is found in tiny quantities within the earth’s crust.

Among industry materials, nickel plays a stabilising and supportive role. It is usually alloyed with other metals to produce shinier, stronger and long-lasting products. Nickel is widely used as the protective layer for softer metals.

Applications

Due to its ability to withstand high temperatures, nickel is utilised in the manufacturing of superalloys. These superalloys exhibit impeccable strength and resistance to oxidation, heat and corrosion. According to the Nickel Institute, roughly two-thirds of the nickel supply is used to manufacture stainless steel while one-fifth is used for steel and non-iron alloys for military, industrial and aerospace uses. Furthermore, one-tenth of the global supply is utilised for plating while the remaining is used for coins, electronics and batteries.

Nickel is widely used as a catalyst for the hydrogenation of unsaturated hydrocarbons. A nickel catalyst can be used to produce soaps and margarine and to shorten hydrocarbon chains. Nickel is also used extensively in varying applications of chemical manufacturing, including as cathodes in rechargeable battery packs, pigments and metal surface treatments.

Coinage and history

The metal has been extensively used in coins due to its long-lasting and corrosion-resistant properties. Between 1857 and 1858, the United States government issued the first-ever nickel coin, Flying Eagle, which consisted of 12% nickel and 88% copper. While most of the coins used gold and silver in historic times, governments across the globe began to issue nickel coins and notes.

Here is some trivia for you –Switzerland produced the first-ever pure nickel coin in 1881.

Occurrence

Nickel is usually found within two deposit types, laterite and magmatic sulphide deposits. Lateritic rock formations are a result of the intensive weathering of surface nickel-rich rocks over the years. Nickel is also found in manganese nodules and at the surface of the sea floor, but these sources are yet to be extensively extracted for the metal. Some of the primary minerals containing nickel are limonite, garnierite and pentlandite.

During the mid-nineteenth century, Norway developed the first large-scale nickel smelting site, extracting nickel from pyrrhotite mineral. 1n 1883, large nickel deposits were discovered in the Sudbury Basin of Canada, which produces over 30% of the global nickel even today. It is believed that nickel formations in the Sudbury Basin are a result of meteoric activity in ancient times. In the early 1900s, additional nickel deposits were discovered in South Africa and the Russian Federation, strengthening nickel’s position in the metal industry. Nickel is widely mined in Indonesia, Russia, Australia, New Caledonia, Canada, Cuba and South Africa.

Magnetism

Nickel is among the four elements (iron, cobalt, germanium, and nickel) that exhibit ferromagnetism at room temperature. Permanent magnets based on nickel alloys such as Alnico have intermediate strength between iron-based permanent magnets and rare-earth elements-based magnets. Alnico is produced from the amalgamation of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. Another nickel alloy, known as the Mu-metal is a soft magnetic alloy that contains over 80% nickel and 20% iron with little molybdenum. The alloy can be used to shield electronic equipment against low-frequency magnetic fields.

	Code	Company	Price	Chg	%Chg	High	Low	Volume	Market Cap
Energy	AEE	AEE Aura Energy Ltd	0.132	0.007	5.6	0.135	0.127	492,848	118.657 M
Basic Materials	ALY	ALY Alchemy Resources Ltd	0.006	0	0.00	0.006	0.006	2,673,333	7.069 M
Basic Materials	AMD	AMD Arrow Minerals Ltd	0.020	0	0.00	0.020	0.020	--	17.079 M
Basic Materials	AOA	AOA Ausmon Resources Ltd	0.002	0	0.00	0.002	0.002	--	2.853 M
Basic Materials	AQD	AQD Ausquest Ltd	0.054	0.002	3.846	0.054	0.054	303,381	76.336 M
Basic Materials	ARL	ARL Ardea Resources Ltd	0.390	0.02	4.878	0.410	0.390	122,875	84.165 M
Basic Materials	ARV	ARV Artemis Resources Ltd	0.006	0.001	20	0.006	0.006	1,847,664	15.171 M
Basic Materials	ATM	ATM Aneka Tambang Tbk PT DRC	0.800	0	0.00	0.800	0.800	746	6,404.500 M
Basic Materials	AUZ	AUZ Australian Mines Ltd	0.009	0	0.00	0.009	0.009	3,688,607	12.587 M
Basic Materials	AVL	AVL Australian Vanadium Ltd	0.010	0	0.00	0.010	0.010	1,788,637	86.347 M
Technology	AXE	AXE Archer Exploration Ltd	0.280	0.01	3.448	0.290	0.280	103,920	77.728 M
Basic Materials	BHP	BHP BHP Group Limited	37.940	0.38	1.012	38.030	37.610	1,137,374	193,651.687 M
Energy	BOE	BOE Boss Energy Limited	4.040	0.25	6.596	4.060	3.920	2,189,565	1,647.240 M
Basic Materials	BSX	BSX Blackstone Minerals Ltd	0.075	0.002	2.597	0.076	0.075	725,286	47.354 M
Basic Materials	CHN	CHN Chalice Mining Limited	1.205	0.035	2.992	1.205	1.160	924,724	445.436 M
Basic Materials	CLA	CLA Celsius Resources Ltd	0.007	0.001	7.692	0.007	0.006	6,098,019	18.813 M
Basic Materials	CNJ	CNJ Conico Ltd	0.007	0	0.00	0.007	0.007	--	1.662 M
Basic Materials	CTM	CTM Centaurus Metals Ltd	0.375	0.01	2.74	0.375	0.370	41,860	186.263 M
Basic Materials	CWX	CWX Carawine Resources Limited	0.098	0	0.00	0.098	0.098	--	22.668 M
Basic Materials	CZN	CZN Corazon Mining Ltd	0.001	0.001	33.333	0.001	0.001	5,000	1.185 M
Basic Materials	ENT	ENT Enterprise Metals Ltd	0.002	0	0.00	0.002	0.002	60,000	2.357 M
Basic Materials	ESR	ESR Estrella Resources Ltd	0.042	0.001	2.326	0.044	0.042	1,810,070	84.130 M
Basic Materials	FML	FML Focus Minerals Ltd	0.395	0.005	1.25	0.395	0.395	40,000	98.863 M
Basic Materials	G88	G88 Golden Mile Resources Ltd	0.018	0	0.00	0.019	0.018	2,731,267	7.620 M
Basic Materials	GAL	GAL Galileo Mining Ltd	0.105	0.005	5	0.105	0.105	40,000	20.751 M
Basic Materials	GBR	GBR Great Boulder Resources Ltd	0.066	0.003	4.348	0.068	0.066	21,228	50.956 M
Basic Materials	GTE	GTE Great Western Exploration Ltd	0.010	0	0.00	0.010	0.010	375,521	7.381 M
Basic Materials	HLX	HLX Helix Resources Ltd	0.002	0	0.00	0.002	0.002	250,000	6.728 M
Basic Materials	IGO	IGO IGO Ltd	3.900	0.11	2.902	3.905	3.830	217,874	3,112.372 M
Basic Materials	IPT	IPT Impact Minerals Ltd	0.006	0.001	9.091	0.006	0.006	683,500	19.777 M
Basic Materials	JRV	JRV Jervois Mining Ltd	0.011	0	0.00	0.011	0.011	--	29.730 M
Basic Materials	KAI	KAI Kairos Minerals Ltd	0.026	0	0.00	0.026	0.026	67,808	68.404 M
Basic Materials	KOR	KOR Korab Resources Ltd	0.008	0	0.00	0.008	0.008	--	2.936 M
Basic Materials	LEG	LEG Legend Mining Ltd	0.008	0	0.00	0.008	0.008	105,555	26.203 M
Basic Materials	LM8	LM8 Lunnon Metals Ltd	0.240	0	0.00	0.240	0.240	8,333	48.538 M
Basic Materials	MEI	MEI Meteoric Resources NL	0.115	0.005	4.167	0.120	0.115	406,065	261.728 M
Basic Materials	MLX	MLX Metals X Ltd	0.520	0.015	2.97	0.525	0.515	659,850	465.356 M
Basic Materials	MRD	MRD Mount Ridley Mines Ltd	0.002	0	0.00	0.002	0.002	1,370,000	1.557 M
Basic Materials	MRR	MRR Minrex Resources Ltd	0.010	0.001	11.111	0.010	0.010	97,800	10.849 M
Basic Materials	NIC	NIC Nickel Industries Limited	0.685	0.02	3.008	0.685	0.670	418,891	2,981.539 M
Basic Materials	NME	NME Nex Metals Explorations Ltd	0.026	0	0.00	0.026	0.026	--	8.687 M
Basic Materials	NST	NST Northern Star Resources Ltd	21.300	0.04	0.188	21.390	21.220	314,049	29,828.123 M
Basic Materials	ORN	ORN Orion Minerals Ltd	0.012	0	0.00	0.012	0.012	2,500	82.205 M
Basic Materials	PGM	PGM Platina Resources Ltd	0.019	0	0.00	0.019	0.019	500,000	11.840 M
Basic Materials	PNN	PNN Power Minerals Ltd	0.060	0.002	3.448	0.060	0.058	365,064	7.642 M
Basic Materials	RIE	RIE Riedel Resources Ltd	0.031	0	0.00	0.031	0.031	113,000	1.724 M
Basic Materials	RIO	RIO Rio Tinto Ltd	110.240	0.22	0.2	110.810	110.070	87,057	183,028.908 M
Basic Materials	RNU	RNU Renascor Resources Ltd	0.058	0.001	1.695	0.059	0.058	240,661	157.673 M
Basic Materials	RXL	RXL Rox Resources Ltd	0.290	0.005	1.695	0.295	0.285	268,504	206.566 M
Basic Materials	S32	S32 South32 Ltd	2.995	0.045	1.525	3.010	2.980	1,229,280	13,648.516 M
Basic Materials	SBR	SBR Sabre Resources Ltd	0.008	0	0.00	0.008	0.008	850,000	3.156 M
Basic Materials	SFM	SFM Santa Fe Minerals Ltd	0.039	0.002	5.405	0.039	0.039	10,000	2.694 M
Basic Materials	SFR	SFR Sandfire Resources NL	11.565	0.115	1.004	11.630	11.530	73,609	5,290.805 M
Basic Materials	SFX	SFX Sheffield Resources Ltd	0.160	0.005	3.03	0.160	0.160	122,074	63.169 M
Basic Materials	SGQ	SGQ St George Mining Ltd	0.025	0.003	13.636	0.025	0.023	14,872,975	61.475 M
Basic Materials	SMI	SMI Santana Minerals Ltd	0.565	0.01	1.802	0.570	0.555	45,087	390.268 M
Basic Materials	SRI	SRI Sipa Resources Ltd	0.012	0	0.00	0.012	0.012	976,110	5.413 M
Industrials	SRL	SRL Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd	0.415	0.015	3.488	0.415	0.415	310	40.151 M
Basic Materials	TLM	TLM Talisman Mining Ltd	0.135	0.005	3.571	0.140	0.135	20,532	27.306 M
Basic Materials	VMC	VMC Venus Metals Corporation Ltd	0.140	0.01	7.692	0.140	0.130	381,487	26.477 M
Basic Materials	VRX	VRX VRX Silica Ltd	0.064	0	0.00	0.064	0.064	48,539	46.333 M
Basic Materials	WCN	WCN White Cliff Minerals Ltd	0.025	0.001	4.167	0.025	0.025	262,267	62.732 M

* Data powered by EODHD®. Data delayed 20 minutes unless otherwise indicated.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is nickel toxic for humans?

Nickel is an essential nutrient for the human body but may cause harm if consumed in excess. Most issues related to nickel are seen due to breathing infected air or drilling nickel-rich water causing infection. Nickel is classified as carcinogenic for humans and may cause respiratory cancer, including lung cancer, as it has been observed in epidemiological studies of sulfidic ore refinery workers.

Oral consumption of nickel is mostly removed by kidneys and passed off as urine or the gastrointestinal tract without absorption. Overall, nickel is not toxic for humans but a larger dose of it or chronic inhalation may have repercussions, including cancer.

2. How is nickel present in the environment?

The majority of nickel is inaccessible since it is contained within the earth’s iron nickel molten core. Nickel is also present amongst dissolved minerals in the sea. Nickel present in soil is estimated to be present between 0.2 ppm and 450 ppm. Nickel is present in plants and vegetables. Among food items, nickel is present in beans and tea.

Nickel is also released into the environment by power plants, which later on settles to the ground upon contact with raindrops. Nickel’s presence at high concentrations in sandy soil could damage plants, and in water, could harm algae growth. Usually, nickel does not accumulate in plants or animals.

3. How does the nickel export ban by Indonesia affect the supply chain?

Indonesia is the largest nickel-producing country in the world and it banned nickel ore export in January 2021. The Indonesian government had banned nickel ore exports in an effort to boost the domestic nickel downstream sector and increase mining investments in the country. Some government officials have confirmed that the initiative had actually shown a positive impact on the domestic nickel industry and had boosted exports of nickel-derived products along with bringing in major investments.

4. How is nickel processed after the extraction of its ores?

Nickel is obtained via extractive metallurgy by conventional roasting and the reduction process to obtain the final product with more than 75% Ni grade. A majority of sulfide ores are processed using froth flotation and pyrometallurgical processes to produce nickel matte. Nickel matte can be processed further by the leaching and electrowinning (SX-EW) beneficiation processes. Alternatively, nickel matte can also be processed using the Sherritt-Gordon process, which produces a concentrate of cobalt and nickel, which can be later refined using the solvent extraction method to obtain 99% purity nickel.