Future of the nickel industry in Canada

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 76, No. 857, 1983

E. OZBERK ,The SNC Group, W.G. DAVENPORT, University of Arizona, N. GIBSON Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Limited

In the 1950s, Canada produced more than ninety-five per cent of the non-communist world's nickel and achieved dominance in terms of production, technology and pricing policies.Over the past thirty years there have been dramatic changes in the nickel industry to the extent that Canadian production is now less than thirty per cent of the total. In this document we have presented statistics relevant to this transformation and reviewed the technology, particularly with regards to energy and environmental considerations.Under the new market conditions nickel producers are likely to face more difficult competition than they have encountered in the past. The economic scene and measured nickel reserves dictate that for the purpose of increasing production, new nickel smelters will not be built in Canada in the foreseeable future. However, in order to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions, Canadian nickel smelters will possibly go through some modifications or rebuilding.

Mots Clés: Nickel, Nickel production, Nickel industry, Supply, Demand, Extractive metallurgy, Inco Limited, Falconbridge Limited, Sherritt-Gordon Mines Limited.