Nickel is a silvery white, naturally occurring metallic element with a light golden tinge. There are two main types of nickel deposits - laterite and sulphide – each requiring a different extraction technique.

Nickel sulphide deposits can be found all over the world including Western Australia, South Africa, Canada and Russia. Nickel laterite deposits can be found in countries such as Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia and the Philippines.

Nickel sulphide ore is mined at our open-cut and underground operations in the Northern Goldfields in Western Australia before it is crushed and concentrated at two large nickel concentrators using nickel sulphide flotation technology. The nickel concentrate is then dried and railed to the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter where it’s continuously fed to a flash furnace. The furnace process produces a granulated matte product containing approximately 68% nickel. It’s then railed to Kwinana Nickel Refinery where it is converted to nickel metal in the form of powder and briquettes, at 99.8% nickel grade. Nickel matte and metal are exported to overseas markets via the Port of Fremantle.