Data Powered by Stockdio. Data delayed by 5 minutes unless otherwise indicated.
NI

Nickel

15281.88 USD/Mt -854.12 (-5.29%) (Last updated - July 04, 2025 04:26 PM UTC )
Day High
23561
Day Low
22037.5
Previous Close
22470
52 Week Range
17707.5 - 86791.5
Change YTD
-11.24%

About

Performance USD/oz Change
5 Day -2.92%
1 Month -6.66%
3 Months -11.24%
6 Months -11.24%
52 Week -11.24%

July 04, 2025 04:26 PM UTC

Data Powered by Stockdio. Data delayed by 5 minutes unless otherwise indicated.

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 Aura Energy Ltd 0.165 0.01 6.452 0.165 0.155 223,030 146.040 M
Basic Materials ALY Alchemy Resources Ltd 0.005 0.001 16.667 0.005 0.005 98,904 5.890 M
Basic Materials AMD Arrow Minerals Ltd 0.020 0 0.00 0.020 0.020 -- 17.555 M
Basic Materials AOA Ausmon Resources Ltd 0.002 0.001 33.333 0.002 0.001 3,405,710 1.427 M
Basic Materials AQD Ausquest Ltd 0.054 0 0.00 0.055 0.054 1,055,277 75.160 M
Basic Materials ARL Ardea Resources Ltd 0.400 0 0.00 0.405 0.395 6,844 84.165 M
Basic Materials ARV Artemis Resources Ltd 0.006 0.001 20 0.006 0.006 27,356 12.678 M
Basic Materials ATM Aneka Tambang Tbk PT DRC 1.125 0.015 1.351 1.125 1.125 16 6,736.770 M
Basic Materials AUZ Australian Mines Ltd 0.010 0.001 9.091 0.011 0.008 15,374,647 15.384 M
Basic Materials AVL Australian Vanadium Ltd 0.009 0 0.00 0.009 0.008 12,662,317 77.712 M
Technology AXE Archer Exploration Ltd 0.260 0.005 1.961 0.275 0.257 229,421 64.986 M
Basic Materials BHP BHP Group Limited 38.730 0.54 1.375 38.990 38.450 7,222,920 198,421.938 M
Energy BOE Boss Energy Limited 4.090 0.09 2.153 4.230 4.080 3,378,698 1,726.075 M
Basic Materials BSX Blackstone Minerals Ltd 0.078 0.001 1.299 0.078 0.075 2,422,312 106.135 M
Basic Materials CHN Chalice Mining Limited 1.730 0.12 6.487 1.822 1.722 2,381,306 717.755 M
Basic Materials CLA Celsius Resources Ltd 0.007 0 0.00 0.007 0.006 1,529,807 21.948 M
Basic Materials CNJ Conico Ltd 0.007 0 0.00 0.007 0.007 -- 1.905 M
Basic Materials CTM Centaurus Metals Ltd 0.350 0.01 2.941 0.365 0.340 145,453 178.812 M
Basic Materials CWX Carawine Resources Limited 0.096 0 0.00 0.096 0.096 -- 22.668 M
Basic Materials CZN Corazon Mining Ltd 0.002 0 0.00 0.002 0.002 997,505 2.369 M
Basic Materials ENT Enterprise Metals Ltd 0.003 0 0.00 0.003 0.003 750,000 4.114 M
Basic Materials ESR Estrella Resources Ltd 0.047 0.001 2.083 0.048 0.046 1,473,985 94.390 M
Basic Materials FML Focus Minerals Ltd 0.350 0 0.00 0.355 0.350 15,023 101.728 M
Basic Materials G88 Golden Mile Resources Ltd 0.010 0.001 9.091 0.011 0.010 2,489,137 5.987 M
Basic Materials GAL Galileo Mining Ltd 0.135 0 0.00 0.135 0.135 33,500 26.679 M
Basic Materials GBR Great Boulder Resources Ltd 0.061 0.001 1.613 0.062 0.061 2,568,429 57.057 M
Basic Materials GTE Great Western Exploration Ltd 0.010 0.001 9.091 0.011 0.010 474,876 5.678 M
Basic Materials HLX Helix Resources Ltd 0.001 0.001 50 0.001 0.001 58,000 3.364 M
Basic Materials IGO IGO Ltd 4.260 0.06 1.389 4.340 4.240 1,445,263 3,256.252 M
Basic Materials IPT Impact Minerals Ltd 0.008 0.001 14.286 0.008 0.007 2,708,335 31.643 M
Basic Materials JRV Jervois Mining Ltd 0.011 0 0.00 0.011 0.011 -- 29.730 M
Basic Materials KAI Kairos Minerals Ltd 0.029 0 0.00 0.031 0.029 2,439,710 78.927 M
Basic Materials KOR Korab Resources Ltd 0.008 0 0.00 0.008 0.008 -- 2.936 M
Basic Materials LEG Legend Mining Ltd 0.007 0 0.00 0.008 0.007 77,147 20.380 M
Basic Materials LM8 Lunnon Metals Ltd 0.235 0.01 4.082 0.235 0.220 68,839 54.054 M
Basic Materials MEI Meteoric Resources NL 0.115 0.005 4.167 0.125 0.115 6,934,620 273.471 M
Basic Materials MLX Metals X Ltd 0.545 0.015 2.679 0.570 0.540 2,054,953 491.948 M
Basic Materials MRD Mount Ridley Mines Ltd 0.003 0.001 50 0.003 0.002 231,409 1.557 M
Basic Materials MRR Minrex Resources Ltd 0.008 0 0.00 0.008 0.008 125,000 8.679 M
Basic Materials NIC Nickel Industries Limited 0.730 0.005 0.68 0.740 0.725 5,079,497 3,168.886 M
Basic Materials NME Nex Metals Explorations Ltd 0.019 0 0.00 0.019 0.019 -- 6.348 M
Basic Materials NST Northern Star Resources Ltd 18.390 0.17 0.916 18.600 18.220 3,273,777 26,199.607 M
Basic Materials ORN Orion Minerals Ltd 0.012 0.001 9.091 0.012 0.011 591,711 82.205 M
Basic Materials PGM Platina Resources Ltd 0.021 0 0.00 0.021 0.021 307,761 13.087 M
Basic Materials PNN Power Minerals Ltd 0.060 0.005 7.692 0.065 0.057 1,631,573 8.279 M
Basic Materials RIE Riedel Resources Ltd 0.026 0.003 10.345 0.026 0.026 250 1.806 M
Basic Materials RIO Rio Tinto Ltd 108.800 1.45 1.315 109.130 107.670 1,653,875 176,794.698 M
Basic Materials RNU Renascor Resources Ltd 0.061 0.003 5.172 0.061 0.057 1,379,648 152.589 M
Basic Materials RXL Rox Resources Ltd 0.295 0.005 1.667 0.305 0.290 928,658 216.433 M
Basic Materials S32 South32 Ltd 3.120 0.08 2.5 3.200 3.110 8,737,369 14,361.439 M
Basic Materials SBR Sabre Resources Ltd 0.009 0 0.00 0.009 0.009 -- 3.550 M
Basic Materials SFM Santa Fe Minerals Ltd 0.145 0.005 3.571 0.145 0.120 536,184 10.195 M
Basic Materials SFR Sandfire Resources NL 11.330 0.12 1.048 11.620 11.250 1,116,134 5,219.649 M
Basic Materials SFX Sheffield Resources Ltd 0.190 0.015 8.571 0.195 0.180 119,080 71.065 M
Basic Materials SGQ St George Mining Ltd 0.038 0.001 2.703 0.039 0.037 8,334,169 104.240 M
Basic Materials SMI Santana Minerals Ltd 0.550 0 0.00 0.550 0.535 685,679 397.496 M
Basic Materials SRI Sipa Resources Ltd 0.017 0 0.00 0.017 0.017 191,578 7.079 M
Industrials SRL Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd 1.125 0.01 0.881 1.155 1.070 192,090 130.783 M
Basic Materials TLM Talisman Mining Ltd 0.150 0.005 3.448 0.150 0.145 47,058 28.248 M
Basic Materials VMC Venus Metals Corporation Ltd 0.105 0 0.00 0.105 0.105 -- 20.594 M
Basic Materials VRX VRX Silica Ltd 0.088 0.005 6.024 0.089 0.083 56,381 65.015 M
Basic Materials WCN White Cliff Minerals Ltd 0.022 0 0.00 0.023 0.021 2,370,646 50.681 M
* Data powered by EODHD®. Data delayed 20 minutes unless otherwise indicated.

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

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.

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.

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.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.