Nickel laterite deposits geological overview, resources

and exploitation
M. Elias
Mick Elias Associates
CSA Australia Pty Ltd
PO Box 139
Burswood WA 6100
Australia
In: Giant Ore Deposits: Characteristics, genesis and exploration, eds DR Cooke and J
Pongratz. CODES Special Publication 4, Centre for Ore Deposit Research, University of
Tasmania, pp 205-220.

Abstract
This paper reviews the nature and genesis of nickel laterite mineralisation, and describes the
relationship between deposit characteristics (both geological and non-geological) and the
successful development of lateritic deposits as commercial nickel producers. The importance of
nickel laterites lies in their huge resource base, which could potentially provide a much greater
share of global nickel production than their current level compared to nickel from sulphides.
Most of the worlds terrestrial nickel resources are hosted in nickel laterites, the products of
intense weathering of ultramafic rocks at the surface of the earth in humid climatic conditions.
The process of lateritisation involves the breakdown of primary minerals and release of their
chemical components into groundwater, the leaching of mobile components, the residual
concentration of immobile or insoluble components, and the formation of new minerals which are
stable in the weathering environment. The combined effects of these processes is to produce a
vertical succession of horizons of differing chemistry and mineralogy (the laterite profile), the
overall structure of which is governed by the differential mobility of the elements in the
weathering zone. The detailed structure of the profile varies greatly, and in any one place is the
result of the dynamic interplay of climatic and geological factors such as topography, drainage,
tectonics, structure and parent rock lithology. Nickel can be enriched to ore grade in parts of the
profile by being incorporated into the structure of the newly formed stable minerals or into the
alteration products of primary minerals.
Exploitation of nickel laterites provides about 40% of the worlds production of nickel. Three
process routes are used commercially, each of which is suited to only part of the laterite profile.
Hydrometallurgical processes of sulphuric acid leaching and reduction roast-ammonia leaching
are used to extract nickel and cobalt from the upper, low-magnesium part of the profile, and
smelting is used for the high-magnesium silicates lower in the profile. The economics of nickel
laterite processing are strongly dependent on grade and composition of ore feed, economies of
scale, location, availability of low-cost energy and well-developed infrastructure. Historically,
nickel laterite projects have proven difficult to develop and reach their nameplate capacity, but
the enormous surface resources of lateritic nickel provide compelling incentive to overcome
engineering challenges inherent in their successful treatment. The outlook is for a greater
proportion of nickel production in the future to come from lateritic sources.

Introduction
Laterites are the residual products of chemical weathering of rocks at the surface of the
earth, in which various original or primary minerals unstable in the presence of water,
dissolve or break down and new minerals are formed that are more stable to the
environment. Laterites are important as hosts to economic ore deposits, as the chemical
interactions which together make up the lateritisation process can in certain cases be very
efficient in concentrating some elements. Well-known examples of important lateritic
ore deposits are aluminous bauxite and enriched iron ore deposits, but lesser known
examples include lateritic gold deposits (e.g., Boddington in Western Australia) (Evans,
1993).
Nickel laterites are the product of lateritisation of Mg-rich or ultramafic rocks which have
primary Ni contents of 0.2-0.4% (Golightly, 1981). Such rocks are generally dunites,
harzburgites and peridotites occurring in ophiolite complexes, and to a lesser extent
komatiites and layered mafic-ultramafic intrusive rocks in cratonic platform settings
(Brand et al, 1998). Lateritisation processes result in the concentration by factors of 3 to
30 times the nickel and cobalt contents of the parent rock. The processes, and the
character of the resulting laterite, are controlled on regional and local scales by the
dynamic interplay of factors such as climate, topography, tectonics, primary rock type
and structure.

CUBA
PHILIPPINES

22oN

INDONESIA

NEW CALEDONIA

22oS

AUSTRALIA

LATERITES

SULPHIDES

Figure 1: Global distribution of sulphide and laterite nickel deposits

Most lateritic nickel resources occur within a band about 22 degrees of latitude either side
of the equator (Fig. 1) and the giant, and in some cases highest grade, deposits are
concentrated in tectonically active plate collision zones (eg Indonesia, the Philippines and
New Caledonia) where extensive obducted ophiolite sheets are exposed to aggressive

chemical weathering in tropical conditions of high rainfall and warm temperatures, and
there is the greatest opportunity for supergene enrichment. Resources in cratonic settings
can be large but tend to be lower in grade (e.g. Murrin Murrin in Western Australia).
Cratonic shield deposits in West Africa (Nahon et al, 1982) and Brazil (Schobbenhaus,
1986) are within the equatorial zone, but those in the Balkans (Greece, Albania and
former Yugoslavia) (Valeton et al, 1987) and the Yilgarn craton in Western Australia
occur at higher latitudes. The latter two examples are fossil deposits, currently situated
in temperate or arid climates quite different from the warm, humid conditions under
which they formed.
Nickel laterites play an important part in the global nickel industry and currently account
for around 40% of the total nickel production of about 1 million tonnes. About 70% of
all continental or terrestrial nickel resources are contained in laterites. Production of
nickel from lateritic sources as a proportion of total (sulphide plus laterite) nickel
production has remained fairly constant over the last ten years (Fig. 2), but is expected to
grow with time as easily-won sulphide resources are depleted. The main barriers to more
rapid growth in lateritic nickel production are the high capital cost of processing
facilities, high energy requirements in the pyrometallurgical process routes, and the
technical challenges of making hydrometallurgical processing more efficient.

Sulphide
800

Laterite

50.0%

700

% Laterite

48.0%

tonnes Ni ('000)

44.0%

500

42.0%

400

40.0%

300

38.0%
36.0%

200

% Lateritic Ni

46.0%

600

34.0%

100

32.0%

30.0%
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Figure 2: World nickel production by ore type, 1988-2001.

This paper is divided into two sections. Part 1 describes the processes by which lateritic
deposits enriched in nickel are developed over ultramafic rocks, the environmental
factors controlling the processes, and the nature of the lateritic profile formed as a result
of these processes. Part 2 discusses the production of nickel from laterites, the extraction
processes used on a commercial scale, the structure of the nickel laterite industry and
describes the factors that characterise commercially successful operations.

Part 1 Geology of nickel laterite deposits

Geology of laterite profiles on ultramafic rocks
The process referred to as lateritisation is essentially chemical weathering taking place
in seasonally humid climates over long periods of time in conditions of relative tectonic
stability, allowing the formation of a thick regolith with distinctive characteristics
(Trescases, in Butt and Zeegers, 1992). Table 1 lists the main effects of chemical
weathering of rocks in general, and how these processes are manifested in the weathering
of ultramafic rocks. In summary, the process of lateritisation involves the breakdown of
primary minerals and release of some of their chemical components into groundwater, the
leaching of mobile components, the residual concentration of immobile or insoluble
components, and the formation of new minerals which are stable in the weathering
environment. The net effect of the mineral transformations and the differential mobility
of elements involved produces a stratified or layered mantle of weathered material
overlying the parent rock from which it was formed, which is generally referred to as the
laterite profile.
General processes
1. Leaching of mobile constituents:
alkalis, alkaline earths
2. Formation of stable secondary
minerals: Fe and Al oxides, clays
3. Partial leaching of less mobile
components: silica, alumina, Ti
4. Mobilisation and partial
reprecipitation of redox-controlled
constituents: Fe, Mn
5. Retention and residual
concentration of resistant minerals:
zircon, chromite, quartz
Table 1:

Effects in ultramafic rocks

Breakdown of olivine, pyroxene,
serpentine and leaching of Mg, Ni, Mn,
Co
Goethite formation, smectite formation,
adsorption of Ni from solution
Leaching of silica in rainforest and moist
savanna climates
Precipitation of Mn oxides and
adsorption of Ni and Co from solution
Residual chromite concentration

Main processes of chemical weathering and their effects in ultramafic

rocks (after Butt and Zeegers, 1992, p. 10)

The process is dynamic and gradual, and the gross stratification that one sees in the
laterite profile (Fig. 3) is essentially a snapshot of lateritisation in progress. The lowest
layer reflects early stages of weathering of the bedrock, and each layer further up
represents a transformation of that lying immediately below it, displaying progressively
advancing stages of the process. In the lowermost part of the profile (saprock),
weathering takes place at contacts between minerals and at fracture boundaries and there
is abundant fresh rock and little alteration product. Further up the profile, the proportion
of surviving primary minerals decreases, and more strongly fractured zones are
completely altered eventually leaving detached boulders of intact bedrock floating in a
mixture of primary and alteration minerals in which the primary rock fabric is preserved
(saprolite). Higher layers consist totally of alteration minerals, and are marked by the
eventual loss of primary fabric. The zone above the saprolite is termed the pedolith in the

technical literature (Butt and Zeegers, 1992), but the term is seldom used in practice. The
pedolith is more often referred to as the limonite zone, the latter term being derived from
the dominant mineralogy (goethite and hematite) in this zone in oxide laterites.

Ferricrete

Fe

MgO

Ni

Co

>50%

<0.5%

<0.6%

<0.1%

40-50%

0.5-5%

0.8-1.5%

0.1-0.2%

10-25%

15-35%

1.5-3%

0.020.1%

5%

35-45%

0.3%

0.01%

Limonite

Saprolite

Saprock
Bedrock

Figure 3: Schematic laterite profile developed on ultramafic rock in a tropical climate

(Fe oxide-dominant limonite zone), showing indicative chemical compositions in wt%.
See Figure 4 for indicative thicknesses of units.

Factors influencing weathering and profile development

The processes and conditions that govern and control lateritisation of ultramafic rocks are
numerous and varied on all scales, and consequently the nature of the profile varies in
detail from place to place in thickness, chemical and mineralogical composition, and the
relative development of individual profile zones. The main factors influencing the
efficiency and extent of chemical weathering, and consequently the nature of the profile,
are:
Climate:

Topography:
Drainage:
Tectonics:

Parent rock type:

Structure:

Rainfall determines the amount of water passing through the soil,

which influences the intensity of leaching and removal of soluble
components. In addition to the amount, the effectiveness of
rainfall (the extent to which water is allowed to pass down through
the profile rather than running off) is important. Higher mean soil
temperature (which is close to mean surface air temperature)
increases the kinetics of weathering processes (Butt and Zeegers,
1992).
Relief and slope geometry influence drainage, the extent to which
water passes into the soil, and water table level.
Drainage affects the net water budget available for leaching from
the whole landscape.
Tectonic uplift increases erosion of the top of the profile, increases
topographic relief and lowers the water table. Tectonic stability
allows planation of the landscape, slowing groundwater movement.
Mineralogy determines susceptibility of rocks to weathering and
the elements available for recombination as new minerals.
Faults and shears provide discrete zones of bedrock permeability;
jointing and cleavage improve pervasive alteration potential.

Clearly many of these climatic and geological factors are closely interrelated, and the
characteristics of a profile at any one place can best be described as due to the combined
effect of all the individual factors acting over time, rather than being dominated by any
single factor.
The thickness of the laterite profile is determined by the balance between the rates of
chemical weathering at the base of the profile and physical removal of the top of the
profile by erosion. The rate of chemical weathering varies from 10 to 50 metres per
million years, is generally proportional to the quantity of water percolating through the
profile, and is 2-3 times faster in ultramafic rocks than sialic rocks (Nahon, 1986).
Trescases (1975) has estimated that the rate of downward movement in the base of
weathering in the highlands of southern New Caledonia to be from 125 to 140 metres per
million years, but one-tenth this rate in the plateaux and terraces. Rapid erosion rates
restrict profile development to thicknesses of 50 to 100 metres, and their age is therefore
probably less than 1 million years.
Estimated rates of chemical weathering in stable cratonic settings where relief is subdued
and rainfall somewhat lower (e.g. Brazil and West Africa) are also in the range of 10
metres per million years (Golightly, 1981). In these areas, tectonic stability and low

erosion rates allow the development of profiles over 100 metres thick, but these are older
than those in tectonically active settings.
Laterite profile types
Despite the complexity and interplay of controls, there are a number of broad features of
the laterite profile that are common to most examples, and it is possible to describe the
range of laterite types formed over ultramafic rocks in terms of three main categories on
the basis of the dominant mineralogy developed in the profile:
Oxide laterites:
Clay laterites:
Silicate laterites:

comprise largely Fe hydroxides and oxides in the upper part

of the profile, overlying altered or fresh bedrock;
comprise largely smectitic clays in the upper part of the
profile, and
comprise hydrated Mg-Ni silicates (serpentine, garnierite)
occurring deeper in the profile, which may be overlain by
oxide laterites.

Oxide laterites: These are the most common final products of lateritisation of ultramafic
rocks. In the presence of water, primary rock-forming minerals (mainly olivine and/or
serpentine, orthopyroxene and less commonly clinopyroxene) break down by hydrolysis
releasing their constituents as ions in aqueous solution. Olivine is the most unstable
mineral and is the first to be weathered; in humid tropical environments its Mg2+ is totally
leached and lost to groundwater, and Si is largely leached and removed. Fe2+ is also
released but is oxidised and precipitated as ferric hydroxide, initially amorphous or
poorly crystalline but progressively recrystallising to goethite which forms pseudomorphs
after olivine. Orthopyroxene and serpentine hydrolyse after olivine, also releasing Mg, Si
and being replaced by goethitic pseudomorphs. Initially, while co-existing ferromagnesium minerals remain unweathered and support the rock fabric, the transformation
is isovolumetric and primary rock textures are preserved, but as the extent of destruction
of primary minerals increases, relict primary textures are lost by collapse and compaction
of the fabric resulting in a textureless massive goethite. The mineralogical transformation
involving loss of Mg and residual concentration of Fe results in the obvious and familiar
chemical trend in laterites of Mg decreasing upwards and Fe increasing upwards through
the laterite profile (Fig. 3).
Ni and Co behave differently to the major elements. Nearly all of the original Ni and Co
in the ultramafic bedrock occurs in solid solution in olivine and olivine-derived
serpentine. As these minerals break down, the released Ni and Co ions have a chemical
affinity for the newly-formed poorly-crystalline Fe hydroxides and are incorporated and
concentrated into their structure by a combination of adsorption and replacement of Fe3+
(Gerth, 1990). Contents of 1.5% Ni and 0.1% Co are seen in massive goethite developed
from olivine containing 0.3% Ni and 0.02% Co. Ni and Co are also incorporated strongly
into Mn oxides (asbolanes) where these are precipitated by redox reactions as veins and
surface coatings on minerals and in fractures. Mn oxide minerals containing up to 12%
Ni and 8.5% Co are known (Elias et al, 1981).
Mineralogical trends in the pedolith reflect the gradual transformation of goethite to
hematite. The first-formed Fe hydroxides resulting from the breakdown of ultramafic

minerals are amorphous or poorly crystalline. Their crystallinity improves with time to
well-structured goethite with a characteristic yellow-brown colour, which is progressively
replaced by red-brown hematite is the goethite dehydrolises. The colour change is
reflected in the commonly-used terminology of yellow limonite and red limonite for
the lower and upper parts of the limonite zone respectively. The transformation of
goethite to hematite is accompanied by a loss of Ni, as hematite cannot accommodate in
its lattice the Ni formerly contained in the goethite. At the very top of the profile, a
nodular fabric develops in the red limonite, which develops further to an indurated crust
as the nodules coalesce and harden. The crust is known as ferricrete, iron crust, or by the
French term cuirasse.
Oxide-dominated deposits can pass directly from totally altered goethitic saprolite down
into fresh bedrock over a distance of only a few centimetres. More generally there is an
interval between goethite saprolite and the fresh bedrock interface, as shown in Figure 3,
which comprises a mixture of goethite, oxidised ultramafic material and fresh ultramafic
rock boulders.
Important examples of oxide deposits as described above are Moa Bay and Pinares
(Cuba) (Linchenat and Shirokova, 1964), and Goro and Prony (southern New Caledonia)
(Golightly, 1981).
A particular variety of oxide deposit that is formed over dunite bedrock is composed of
goethite and minor clay with abundant free chalcedonic silica in forms ranging from finegrained particles to coarse veins and discontinuous lenses and masses. Examples of this
silica-oxide laterite can be found in association with clay laterites developed over
peridotites, and it appears the lack of Al in the dunite precursor precluded development of
secondary clay. Cawse and Ravensthorpe in Western Australia are examples of silicaoxide laterites (Brand et al, 1998).
Clay laterites: In less severe conditions of weathering, e.g., cooler or drier climates,
silica is not leached as it is in humid tropical environments, and instead combines with Fe
and a small amount of Al to form a zone where the smectite clay nontronite
predominates, in place of Fe oxides. Nontronite plays a similar role to goethite in fixing
Ni ions within its lattice where they substitute for Fe2+ and are fixed in inter-layer
positions (Brand et al. 1998). Nontronite clays typically contain 1.0-1.5% Ni in
mineralised laterite. Silica in excess of that required to form nontronite can be deposited
as opaline or chalcedonic nodules in the clay. Clay laterite profiles are also preferentially
developed where there is restricted groundwater movement such as in broad areas with
low topographic relief (Golightly, 1981). The clay horizon may be overlain by a thin
zone of more Fe-rich oxide material which is generally low in Ni, and is underlain by
partially weathered saprolite containing serpentine and nontronite. Clay-dominated
nickel laterite profiles are extensively developed in Australia; e.g, Murrin Murrin (Monti
and Fazakerley , 1996), Bulong (Elias et al, 1981) and Marlborough (Golightly 1981) and
in Brazil.
Silicate laterites: In situations where there is slow continuous tectonic uplift and the
water table is kept low in the profile, weathering over long periods can result in the
development of a thick saprolite zone, which may be overlain by a thin limonite zone
depending on the intensity of erosion at the top of the profile (Golightly, 1981). Silicate

laterites are characterised by an absolute enrichment or concentration of Ni in the

saprolite zone which comprises altered primary minerals such as secondary serpentine,
and neoformed goethite, smectite clays and garnierite (garnierite is a term for mixedstructure hydrous Ni-Mg silicates of low crystallinity with affinities to serpentine, talc
and chlorite; see Pelletier, 1996). Much of the nickel is derived from that released by the
recrystallisation of goethite to hematite further up in the profile. Nickel is reprecipitated
within the saprolite by substituting for Mg in secondary serpentines (which can contain
up to 5% Ni) and in garnierite which can grade over 20% Ni (Pelletier, 1996). Average
content of Ni in silicate laterites is typically 2.0-3.0%. Examples of silicate profiles are
the economically important laterites on the massifs of New Caledonia (Golightly, 1981),
which contain a large proportion of the worlds lateritic nickel resources. Silicate laterites
are also the ore source of most of the nickel currently produced from laterites.
A schematic comparison of the three profile types is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Schematic comparison of principal laterite profile types

Regional and local geological setting of nickel laterite deposits

On a global basis, nickel laterite deposits are found in two tectonic settings (Brand et al,
1998):
Accretionary terrains these are tectonically active zones often associated with oceanic
or continental plate boundaries and collision zones. Thrust faulting has obducted slabs of
upper mantle peridotites and associated rocks forming ophiolite complexes with
extensive areas of exposure at surface. Tectonic processes (i.e., uplift) play a large part in
influencing the type of nickel laterite deposits formed. Ages of host ultramafics and
lateritisation range from Cretaceous through to the late Tertiary. These terrains are

typical of active and inactive island arc settings of Indonesia, the Philippines and New
Caledonia.
Cratonic terrains laterites are developed on komatiites and the ultramafic phases of
layered mafic complexes of any age from Archaean through the Palaeozoic. Relative
tectonic stability allows peneplanation and the laterites are developed in moderate to
subdued relief. Restricted drainage often results in smectite formation instead of oxides.
Tectonic stability allows continuous lateritisation over extended time periods giving rise
to deep weathering, and extension of laterite formation into cooler or less humid climate
zones. Examples include the nickel laterites and bauxites of the Yilgarn craton, Western
Australia, and parts of Brazil, West Africa and the Urals in Russia/Ukraine.
On a local or deposit scale, laterites may be classified according to their topographic
setting into plateau, slope and terrace deposits (Troly et al, 1979).
Plateau deposits are affected by active drainage process but less by erosion, and hence
tend to show complete profile development and form a thicker saprolite zone. The Thio
Plateau and Koniambo deposits in New Caledonia are good examples of plateau deposits
Slope deposits are affected more by erosion and the oxide zone is poorly developed or
absent. Silicate laterite development can also be thinner than plateau deposits as the
groundwater movement has a greater lateral component, i.e. downslope. However, the
increased lateral groundwater flow can cause higher Ni grades to be developed.
Terrace deposits are relics of earlier peneplains or erosion surfaces and indicate a
temporary stop of tectonic uplift. They tend to show development of complete profiles
and of thick saprolite zones. Terraces can include the products of erosion of laterite from
surrounding plateaux (particularly oxide material which is readily eroded) and multiple
cycles of lateritisation are possible with the possibility of increased grades. Good
examples of terrace deposits are found in southern New Caledonia, where the Goro
deposit is the best known.

Global resources of nickel in laterites

Total global resources of nickel contained in laterites are about 160 million tonnes

(Fig. 5). When classified into limonitic (combined oxide and clay) and silicate-dominant
deposits depending on the predominant profile zone (or in some cases the focus of a
development project), limonitic or low-Mg deposits host about 70% of the total lateritic
nickel resource. Because of their lower average grade, ore tonnages in limonitic
deposits are closer to 80% of total tonnes.
Silicate
30%

Limonite
70%

Total 160.7 Mt Ni
2712 Mt ore
1.79% Ni
48.5 Mt Ni

9569 Mt ore
1.17% Ni
112.2 Mt Ni

Figure 5: Global lateritic nickel resources (by contained nickel)

Other

Americas

Balkans
New Caledonia

Africa

2.49%

Brazil

1.38%

1.38% Average Ni grade

silicate

Philippines

limonite

1.88%
1.25%

Cuba

0.86%

1.36%

Indonesia

Australia

Figure 6: Lateritic nickel resources by region based on contained Ni tonnes, divided into
limonite (oxide plus clay) and silicate deposits.
When viewed on a regional basis (Fig. 6), the importance of just three countries, and in
particular of New Caledonia, becomes very clear New Caledonia, Indonesia and
Australia together account for some 60% of the total resources of lateritic nickel, and
New Caledonia, despite its small size, lays claim to 26% of the total. Nickel grade and
proportion of resources in limonite vary between the three, with New Caledonia showing
higher grades in both limonite and silicate ores. Its proportion of nickel in limonites is
close to the global average of 70%, but these are nearly entirely in the small southern

region (Massif du Sud). Australia, by contrast, has almost no saprolitic resources, and the
grade of its limonitic laterites is considerably lower than other countries.
The range of individual deposit sizes and Ni grades for both silicate and limonitic (oxide
and clay) laterites is seen in Figure 7. Limonitic laterites have a maximum deposit grade
of 1.6% Ni and large tonnages, whereas silicate laterite deposits are smaller (mostly less
than 50 Mt) and grades of 2.4-2.6% Ni predominate. A number of outstanding deposits
in terms of size and grade are named in Figure 7.
3.0
2.8

Koniambo

2.6

Ni grade (%)

2.4
2.2
2.0

Soroako

1.8

Bahodopi

1.6

Goro

1.4

Sampala

1.2

Murrin

1.0
0.8
0.6
0

50

100

Silicate

150

200

250

Tonnes (millions)

300

350

400

Limonite

Figure 7: Tonnage-grade plot of individual laterite deposits. Limonite deposits include

oxide and clay laterites. See Table 4 for further information on named deposits.

Part 2 Exploitation of nickel laterite resources

From the earliest nickel production in 1875 until the end of the 19th century when the vast
sulphide nickel deposits of Sudbury came into production, laterites from New Caledonia
were essentially the sole source of nickel in the world. Despite the fact that around 70%
of global nickel resources are hosted by laterite, production of nickel from lateritic
sources has lagged behind that from sulphides. Currently about 40% of nickel production
comes from treatment of laterite ores, and this proportion has been in the range of 3040% for the last decade (Fig. 2). Before the late 1950s lateritic nickel production was
about 10% of total nickel, but strong demand for nickel at that time driven largely by US
requirements for the Korean War effort saw a number of laterite operations developed
which quickly doubled the supply from laterites to 20% of total nickel produced.
The reasons why the production of lateritic nickel is not at a level commensurate with its
resource position relative to sulphide nickel are essentially economic, and are
summarised in Table 2. The average weighted cost of production (fully allocated costs
net of by-product credits) of nickel currently produced from laterites is greater than that
for sulphide nickel by some 20%. The mining cost component of lateritic nickel

production costs is considerably less than for sulphides, which are mostly produced from
underground mines. Processing of nickel laterites is considerably more expensive than
for sulphides, and more than offsets the mining cost advantage.

Sulphides
Treatment costs lower than for laterites nickel in metastable minerals, which
contain latent energy in the form of S
Nickel-bearing minerals can be easily
separated from barren (gangue) material at
the mine site. Only the concentrate (higher
grade, lower volume) undergoes further
treatment.

Ore and concentrate have generally

consistent characteristics within a deposit
easy to manage metallurgy.
High recovery of nickel from ore possible
with only one process route
High value in by-products (eg. Cu, PGE)
helps to offset treatment costs of Ni
Moderate capital cost per unit Ni capacity
for processing facilities.

Laterites
Nickel in stable oxide mineralogy which
requires energy and/or aggressive chemical
attack to disassociate.
Only rare opportunities to separate and
concentrate nickel-bearing minerals, and
must apply treatment processes to all the
ore. Requires handling large quantities of
material with low nickel concentrations,
and large volumes of consumables which
must be transported to the plant.
High short-range variability of mineralogy
and chemistry, requires careful planning,
mining and blending to produce consistent,
predictable feed for the treatment plant.
Variable composition through profile
restricts recovery of nickel from only part
of the system with one process route.
Few opportunities for by-product credits
(only Co).
Very high capital cost of processing
facilities more so if the energy source has
to be part of the capital cost.

Table 2: Summary of issues relevant to the economics of nickel sulphide and nickel
laterite deposits.

Processing of nickel laterites

Methods currently in use on a commercial scale to extract nickel from laterites comprise
three main processing routes:

Smelting to produce ferro-nickel or matte,

Caron process (reduction roast ammoniacal leach), and
High pressure acid leaching (HPAL) using sulphuric acid

Table 3 shows nickel production from laterites in 2001 by each of these process routes.

Plant

Company

Country

Tonnes
Ni

% of total
production

Smelting Ferro-nickel
Doniambo
Hachinohe
Hyuga
Oheyama
Falcondo
Cerro Matoso
Larymna
Morro/Codemin
Loma de Niquel
Pomalaa
Various (4-5)
S/T

SLN
Pamco*
Sumitomo*
Nippon Yakin*
Falcondo
BHPBilliton
Larco
Anglo-American
Anglo-American
Aneka Tambang
Various

New Caledonia
Japan
Japan
Japan
Domin. Republic
Colombia
Greece
Brazil
Venezuela
Indonesia
Russia / Ukraine

45,912
35,700
19,800
13,600
21,662
38,500
18,600
6,000
11,600
10,300
21,600
243,274

51.2%

13,061
62,600
75,661

15.9%

28,500
16,400
26,900
16,700
88,500

18.6%

29,226
6,262
7,200
24,991
67,679

14.2%

Smelting Matte
SLN
PT Inco

Doniambo
Sorowako
S/T

New Caledonia
Indonesia

Caron Process (Ammonia leach)

Yabulu
Nicaro
Punta Gorda
Tocantins
S/T

Queensland Ni*
Cuban Govt
Cuban Govt
Votorantim

Australia
Cuba
Cuba
Brazil

HPAL (Acid leach)

Moa Bay
Bulong
Cawse
Murrin Murrin
S/T

Sherritt/Cuban G.
Preston Res.
OM Group
Anaconda Nickel

Total Laterite Production

Total Sulphide Production
Total Nickel Production

Cuba
Australia
Australia
Australia

475,114
674,886
1,150,000

100%

Table 3: Lateritic nickel production for 2001 by process route. Ores come from local
deposits except where plants are marked with an asterisk, indicating
production is from imported ores.
Due to the requirements of each process and the wide range in chemical and
mineralogical composition in the laterite profile (see Fig. 3), each of these processes is
only suited to a part of the profile.

The pyrometallurgical smelting route is the oldest and most widely used process. The
process route treats the more nickel-rich silicate fraction of the profile and produces
ferro-nickel (a reduced Fe-Ni alloy which can be directly used for stainless steel
production) and sulphide matte (which can join a conventional sulphide treatment route)
in an electric furnace. The technology is relatively simple, well-tried and reliable, and
has the advantage that the composition of the ore makes it essentially self-fluxing. The
process has high Ni recoveries (90%), but there is no Co recovered when ferro-nickel is
produced. The process economics are most heavily dependent on the cost of power and
the successful projects (e.g. Sorowako) have their own hydroelectric power plants.
The Caron process is applicable to oxide laterites (limonite) with tolerance for some
silicate laterite, but excessive silica and Mg leads to decreased Ni recoveries. The
process involves drying and roasting in a reducing atmosphere, followed by low-pressure
ammonia leaching. Ni and Co are recovered by solvent extraction, and further refined to
product stage by calcination and reduction. Recoveries of Ni are around 80% and of Co
only about 40-50%. Ore drying and reduction roasting consume considerable energy, and
process economics are heavily dependent on fuel prices. Caron plants were developed
before the oil crises of the 1970s, and struggled to remain viable after fuel prices rose.
None has been built since then, nor is there likely to be more built in the future.
The HPAL process was first used commercially in 1959 at Moa Bay (Cuba), which
remained the only operating HPAL plant until the three Western Australian plants
(Bulong, Cawse and Murrin Murrin) were developed in the late 1990s. The HPAL
process involves leaching ore with sulphuric acid in an autoclave at about 250C and
extracting Ni and Co from the leach liquor by various methods such as sulphide
precipitation using H2S, or solvent extraction and electrowinning. HPAL is used to treat
predominantly the oxide fraction of the laterite and has high recoveries of both Ni and Co
(over 92% in the leach stage). The process economics are largely dependent on the cost
of sulphur and the conversion of the sulphur to sulphuric acid (sulphur-burning acid
plants can generate much of the energy requirements for a HPAL plant). As the
consumption of sulphuric acid is determined mainly by the Mg level in the ore, the latter
becomes a critical factor in managing mining and blending.
The HPAL process can also be applied with high recoveries to clay laterites, but the
presence of silica in the ore from both nontronite and serpentine can create slurry
handling problems in the autoclave and subsequent steps; these require increased
operating costs to overcome, and result in reduced efficiencies such as through-put rates
in various parts of the plant. Pure oxide ores with low silica such as at Moa Bay are most
efficient in the HPAL circuit.
Ore beneficiation
Certain types of lateritic ores can be beneficiated before being fed to the process plant.
Beneficiation is the process whereby a low-grade component of the mineralisation is
separated from the rest and rejected, leaving a component with a higher grade to be
treated. This is analogous to making a concentrate from a sulphide ore, but the
concentration factor is much smaller for laterite ores. In the beneficiation process, some
of the nickel is lost to the reject component but this is outweighed by the improved
economics which result from the higher feed grade.

The practice has been applied for many years to silicate ores, where coarser boulders and
fragments of hard, less-altered rock have much lower Ni content than the matrix of softer
altered material in which they occur. Projects where optimisation of this type of
beneficiation is integral to their economic viability include Sorowako (Indonesia) and
Kopto (New Caledonia), although the practice of screening out coarser lumps and
boulders is carried out at all laterite mines. At Kopto, a grade increase of 25% is
achieved between run-of-mine ore and product finally shipped to the smelter.
Beneficiation with more effective results is possible with silica-oxide laterite. The silica
component is essentially devoid of nickel and easily separated from the associated
goethite by simple screening after crushing. Figure 8 shows an example of how
screening a crushed laterite of bulk grade 1.04% Ni at 212 microns can produce a fine
fraction comprising 53% of the original mass, containing 81% of the original nickel and
with a grade of 1.44% Ni. This form of beneficiation is carried out at the Cawse
operation in Western Australia.
Clay ores are not amenable to upgrading, as Ni is uniformly distributed and there is no
discrete low-nickel fraction which can be separated, except minor secondary silica in
places.
2

90

1.8

80

1.6

70

1.4

60

1.2

50

40

0.8
% Mass passing

30

Ni grade %

100

0.6

20

% Ni recovery

0.4

10

Ni grade %

0.2

0
0

0.5

1
1.5
Screen size (mm)

2.5

Figure 8: Beneficiation of silica-oxide ore from Western Australia. Plot shows

parameters of material passing screen sizes shown on the x-axis. Vertical dashed line is
at 212 microns. % mass passing is the weight of the undersize fraction at the relevant
screen size as a percentage of the total bulk sample weight, and Ni grade % is the grade
of the undersize fraction. % Ni recovery is the proportion of total nickel in the bulk
sample that is reported in the undersize fraction.

Structure of the nickel laterite industry

Table 3 shows that two-thirds of lateritic nickel is produced by smelting. Smelters range
in size and have up to 60,00070,000 t/yr Ni capacity (e.g. Sorowako, Doniambo). Most

smelters draw ore from nearby mines (often more than one) in integrated operations. The
three Japanese smelters (Table 3), however, import ore purchased from mines in New
Caledonia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In the case of Pamco and Sumitomo, the
smelter owners have an equity interest in some of the mining operations that provide their
ore.
The Yabulu refinery in Townsville, Australia, using the Caron process was built to treat
ore from the Greenvale laterite deposit in Queensland, but now treats only ores imported
from New Caledonia, Indonesia and the Philippines after the reserves at Greenvale were
depleted. The Caron process plants in Cuba treat predominantly oxide ore from local
mines.
The advent of new HPAL projects has been the most significant factor affecting the
nickel laterite industry in the last decade. For many years the Moa Bay operation in Cuba
was the sole HPAL producer. Over this time little was known about its performance as
the plant was nationalised by the Castro regime immediately after commissioning in
1959. When information became available after the collapse of the Soviet economy in
the 1990s, the Moa plant was found to be operating remarkably well despite poor
maintenance. This observation, supported by a number of other factors, led to increased
global industry interest in the potential of HPAL. These factors included a significant
drop over the last decade in the price of sulphur and sulphuric acid (due to environmental
pressures on smelters and resulting increased supply), technical advances in solvent
extraction and improved reagents to selectively separate Ni and Co from leach solutions,
and improved design and experience in autoclave technology from the gold industry.
On the back of the renewed interest in HPAL, some 15-20 lateritic nickel projects were
proposed globally and all were subjected to some form of study ranging from scoping to
bankable feasibility studies. Three greenfields plants were built in Western Australia:
Bulong and Cawse are essentially large demonstration plants of about 9500 t/yr Ni
capacity which were intended to be expanded after commissioning, and Murrin Murrin is
a 45,000 t/yr Ni plant. All three operations were brought on stream in 1999 and suffered
severe commissioning difficulties, engineering failures, longer than expected ramp-up
times and higher costs, and all are currently operating below capacity and are in severe
economic circumstances. As a consequence of these difficulties, most other project
studies have been put on hold. An exception is Incos Goro project in New Caledonia
which is under construction and expected to start producing in 2004-5 with a capacity of
54,000 t/yr Ni.
The economics of laterite operations vary widely. To better understand the economic
drivers in the industry, it is helpful to refer to a list of 20 nickel laterite projects around
the world (both producers and non-producing projects in the exploration or development
stage) selected on the basis of the largest published resource size measured in contained
Ni (Table 4), and consider them in the light of the process descriptions given above.

Predomi
nant ore
type

Contained
Ni in
resource

% Ni
grade

% Co
grade

Oxide

>5 Mt

1.56

0.18

Silicate

>5 Mt

1.80

Oxide

>5 Mt

1.34

0.10

Exploration

FalconbridgeSMSP

Silicate

3-5 Mt

2.58

0.07

Feas. Study

FeNi
smelting

Cote d'Ivoire

FalconbridgeSODEMI

Oxidesilicate

3-5 Mt

1.48

0.11

Feas. Study

HPAL

Murrin Murrin

Western Australia

AnacondaGlencore

Clay

3-5 Mt

0.99

0.06

Producer

Gag Island

Indonesia

BHP BillitonAneka Tambang

Oxidesilicate

3-5 Mt

1.35

0.10

Feas. Study

HPAL

Bahodopi

Indonesia

INCO

Silicate

3-5 Mt

1.77

Feas. Study

Matte
smelting

SLN
Operations

New Caledonia

Eramet-SLN

Silicate

3-5 Mt

2.40

Producer

Weda Bay

Indonesia

Weda BayAneka Tambang

Oxidesilicate

2-3 Mt

1.37

0.12

Exploration

HPAL

Pinares de
Mayari

Cuba

Cuban
Government

Oxide

2-3 Mt

1.07

0.12

Exploration

HPAL

Pomalaa East

Indonesia

INCO

Silicate

2-3 Mt

1.83

Camaguey

Cuba

BHP Billiton

2-3 Mt

1.30

0.05

Exploration

Musongati

Burundi

Argosy

2-3 Mt

1.31

0.08

Exploration

HPAL

Moramanga

Madagascar

Phelps Dodge

Clay
Oxidesilicate
Oxide

FeNi
smelting
HPAL

2-3 Mt

1.11

0.10

Feas. Study

HPAL

Prony

New Caledonia

New Caledonian
Government

Oxide

2-3 Mt

1.40

0.14

Exploration

HPAL

Euboea Island

Greece

Larco

Oxide

2-3 Mt

1.00

Producer

20000

Exmibal

Guatemala

INCO

Silicate

1-2 Mt

1.83

ex-producer

11300

Cerro Matoso

Colombia

BHP Billiton

Silicate

1-2 Mt

2.35

Producer

55000

Falcondo

Dominican
Republic

Falconbridge

Silicate

1-2 Mt

1.23

Producer

34000

Project

Country

Ownership

Goro

New Caledonia

INCO-BRGM

Sorowako

Indonesia

INCO-Sumitomo

Sampala

Indonesia

Rio Tinto

Koniambo FeNi

New Caledonia

Sipilou

Project
status

Production
capacity
(t/yr Ni)

Feas. Study
Producer

68000

45000

60000

Exploration

Processing
route
HPAL
Matte
smelting
HPAL

HPAL

Smelting

FeNi
smelting
Matte
smelting
FeNi
smelting
FeNi
smelting

Table 4: Summary of features of twenty large nickel laterite projects (producers, ex-producers and development projects) selected on the
basis of contained Ni metal in resources.

The more profitable laterite operations (Sorowako and Cerro Matoso) are notable because
of their large size, and because they have cheap energy supplies. In the case of
Sorowako, the operation is supported by a fully dedicated hydroelectric scheme. The
economics of SLNs operations in New Caledonia are improved by the high ore grades
(over 2.6% Ni) and available hydroelectric energy, but some high-cost, oil-generated
power is required. Falconbridges Falcondo smelter in the Dominican Republic relies
totally on oil for energy, and the smelter has been closed a number of times when high oil
prices have coincided with low Ni prices (most recently for three months in late 2001).
The Exmibal operation in Guatemala operated for only three years from 1977 before
being closed and has not operated since; it barely reached half its production capacity,
and was penalised by small production capacity, low grade (1.8% Ni) and its dependence
on oil-generated power.
In contrast, a significant number of laterite operations are marginal or loss-making and
rely heavily on forms of Government support to remain in operation, thereby protecting
reliability of strategic supply, protecting the national economy, or maintaining high
employment levels (these are sometimes referred to as social producers). In the case of
the Japanese smelters, the assistance is in the form of tariff protection which offsets the
high costs of ore purchase, ore transport and energy. Greek producer Larco has poor
economics due mainly due to poor ore grade (1.1% Ni), high energy costs and high
smelting temperatures of the Fe-rich ores, and has received extensive Government
subsidies.
The economic problems faced by the three Western Australian operations have resulted
mainly from capital over-runs and underestimation of operating costs, as well as lost
production due to engineering failures in pumps, pipes and pressure vessels unable to
withstand the severely corrosive conditions of hot, concentrated sulphuric acid slurries.
The experience has shown that in order to reduce technical risk, feasibility studies have to
be more thorough, capital costs will be high and projects will have to be large in order to
achieve economies of scale, leaving the development of HPAL projects in the domain
only of the major mining houses. The capital and operating cost over-runs of the two
small Western Australian HPAL producers has exacerbated their already precarious
ability to repay capital.
Despite these events, most new development projects being studied or planned for
construction are HPAL plants (ten in Table 4). It is considered by the promoters of these
projects and some industry observers that the experience of the three Western Australia
HPAL projects has shown where the effort has to be made to overcome the operational
difficulties, and that the fundamental economics of HPAL are still sufficiently attractive
for these projects to be progressed. Of the development projects listed, Sipilou,
Musongati and Moramanga have location disadvantages away from the coast, and a
number of projects are situated in countries that have political factors not in their favour.
The latter issue is one which becomes important when the high capital cost is considered.

Ingredients of a successful laterite project

The experience of history has shown that new nickel laterite development projects have a
very patchy record of success. Many have suffered from construction cost overruns,
unforeseen technical difficulties and inability to reach nameplate capacity, and that the
three new Western Australian HPAL projects so far seem to be suffering a similar fate is
a clear indication that laterite projects require exceptionally high standards of engineering
and technical excellence to be successful. However, there are a number of natural
attributes of nickel laterite deposits that, if they applied in new projects, would improve
their chances of successful development and becoming profitable operations. These
attributes can be described in the four categories of quality, scale, location and
infrastructure.
Ore quality
It is an old adage that good mines are made from good orebodies. Ore quality for lateritic
nickel deposits depends on factors such as:
Grade the highest possible grades of both Ni and by-products, principally Co,
improve efficiency of plant utilisation and decrease the effect of internal
waste included in the ore stream. The ability to beneficiate ores can be
an advantage, although it must be weighed up against the cost of mining
more ore than is needed for the mill.
Consistency continuity and consistency in grade and other physical and
chemical properties allows for less variability in composition of material
sent to the plant. Efficiency in the plant relies heavily on maximum
control and minimum variation in feed composition.
Ore and overburden thickness greater ore thickness and less overburden
improves stripping ratio of overburden to ore.
Mineralogy in HPAL, oxide mineralogy is preferable to clay mineralogy.
Although Ni recoveries for the two ore types are similar, in clay laterites
the presence of colloidal silica in slurries and solutions released by
breakdown of the clay causes problems with high pressure pumping and
solid-liquid separation. Higher slurry densities can be achieved with
oxide mineralogy, increasing through-put rates.
In smelting, the Si:Mg ratio in the feed is critical to controlling melt
temperatures and slag reactivity and viscosity. The ratio is strongly
influenced by mineralogy, particularly the occurrence of serpentine.
Deleterious elements in HPAL, Mg and Al are strong acid consumers, and high
levels of Al (as can be found in overburden) can cause the formation of
alunite scale in the autoclave.
Free silica occurs irregularly in places as veins and boxworks in all types
of nickel laterite. If it occurs in smelter feed, it can cause major
variations in the Si:Mg ratio, and it is therefore to be avoided.

Scale
The high capital cost of laterite plants requires large capacity treatment plants to achieve
economies of scale, and a long mine life to allow payback of capital. As a rule of thumb,
a minimum plant capacity of about 45,000 t/yr Ni is required for a viable greenfields
HPAL plant to keep unit cost of capital to a minimum (a capital cost of US$10 per pound
of annual nickel capacity is sometimes referred to as a benchmark). For a smelter, about
20-25,000 t/yr is the minimum viable size, but this depends mostly on Ni grade and cost
of energy. Resources which show the potential to allow the definition of reserves
sufficient for a mine life of 30 years are considered necessary: this would in most
instances require several hundred million tonnes of ore for low-grade deposits, and at
least 50-100 million tonnes for high-grade silicate ore.
Location
Because of the large amounts of consumables required for the operation of HPAL and
Caron plants, a coastal location for the plant is preferred. Where possible, the plant
should be located close to the minesite to minimise the transport and handling of ore.
Smelting operations in some cases are located close to energy sources or markets, with
the ore being imported to the smelter. In that case, coastal locations for the ore sources
are preferable. Murrin Murrin suffers economically from the cost of transporting 500,000
t/yr of sulphur some 800 km from the seaboard to the minesite whereas this will not be
the case for Goro, Gag Island and Weda Bay.

Infrastructure
The three main infrastructure requirements for laterite operations are water, power and
access. Water consumption of hydrometallurgical processes (Caron and HPAL) is high,
but in tropical climates water availability is often not a problem. The problem of both
water availability and quality exists in more arid locations such as inland Australia.
Smelters are heavy users of power and nearby potential sources of low-cost energy are
advantageous, such as hydroelectricity or natural gas. Access issues are important
particularly in areas of rugged topography and uplifted terrain where ore has to be
transported to a plant or shipping terminal on the coast.
The need for provision of infrastructure can add greatly to the already-high capital cost pf
laterite operations. The location of the three Western Australian laterite projects close to
a natural gas pipeline has been to their advantage, and the two smaller projects, Cawse
and Bulong, are located close to the WMC Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter from which they
derive their sulphuric acid. A coastal location alone for a plant is not necessarily an
advantage by itself, unless there is a port developed to handle materials and freight. A
port can cost tens of millions of dollars to construct.
Environmental considerations
Environmental issues that need to be considered when developing new laterite projects
include mining, processing, waste disposal and closure issues (Dalvi and Poetschke,
2000). Mining of laterite deposits is shallow (generally less than 50 metres deep) but

develops a large footprint and therefore large areas must undergo post-mining
rehabilitation. In tropical areas re-vegetation is less of a problem than in arid areas.
Processing issues relate to the disposal of tailings, effluent and emissions to the
environment. Placement of tailings and disposal of effluent can be a problem in tropical
climates due to high rainfall and low evaporation rates. Deep sea tailings disposal is
technically feasible where the coast is near and sea-floor topography is suitable, but
encounters opposition from environmental groups and is in some cases not permitted by
governments.

Summary and conclusions

Nickel laterite deposits form where olivine-rich rocks are exposed to chemical weathering
in humid climatic conditions over a sufficient time to allow the concentration of nickel in
various parts of the laterite profile. Deposits form at all scales of size and degree of
nickel enrichment, but the right combination of geological and climatic factors can allow
giant deposits to develop. In summary, these are:
-

large areas of exposed olivine-rich ultramafic (especially dunite and

harzburgites), such as are found in ophiolite complexes in current or former
island arc and oceanic plate collision settings,
warm, seasonally humid tropical climatic conditions over periods in excess of
one million years,
tectonic processes allowing a balance between rates of erosion and downward
advance of the weathering front, and development of a topography that
provides for a low water table and free drainage of the profile, and
jointing and fracturing in the bedrock allowing penetration of groundwater.

Commercial development of nickel laterite projects is a high risk undertaking due to the
high capital costs involved and the need for the application of the highest standards of
technology and engineering. It helps to have a giant, quality orebody, but successful
projects require a favourable combination of geological, mineralogical and mining
factors, technical and engineering factors related to the process flowsheet, infrastructurerelated factors and environmental considerations (Dalvi and Poetschke, 2000). Although
currently lagging behind sulphides as sources of nickel, laterites are well positioned to
increase their production levels and lower their costs due to their huge resource position
and continuing improvements in processing technology and engineering
.

Acknowlegements
Numerous discussions with Dr C R M Butt (CSIRO, Australia) over many years have
helped to develop the ideas expressed in this paper, and I look forward to more. Dr N
Brand (now with Anglo American Exploration, Perth) is also thanked.
Comments from reviewers have also substantially improved the manuscript.

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