The origin of nickel metal

Nickel is a silvery white metal with magnetic properties and good plasticity. With good corrosion resistance, nickel is nearly silver-white, hard and malleable, and has a ferromagnetic metallic element that is highly polished and resistant to corrosion. After dissolved in nitric acid, it is green. Mainly used for alloys (such as nickel steel and nickel silver) and as a catalyst (such as Raney nickel, especially as a catalyst for hydrogenation)
In 1751, Alex Fredrik Cronstedt, who works in Stockholm (Swedish capital), studied a new metal called nickel arsenite (NiAs) from Los Alpin, Helsinki, Sweden. He thought it contained copper, but what he extracted was a new metal that he announced and named nickel (nickel) in 1754. Many chemists think of it as an alloy of cobalt, arsenic, iron and copper—these elements appear as trace amounts of contaminants. It wasn’t until 1775 that pure nickel was made by Torbern Bergman, confirming that it was an element.
Nickel ore comes from the earth’s crust and is mined through open pit mines and deep wells. The smelting and refining process separates metal from mined ore. About 1 million tons of nickel are produced each year from mines around the world. The largest production comes from China and Russia, which accounts for about 50% of global production. Other important nickel producers include Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Canada, Australia, Cuba and Norway. The supply of nickel in China consists of two components, one is the supply of new nickel concentrate, which accounts for 72.9% of the total supply of nickel, and the other is from reclaimed nickel, which accounts for 27.1%. With the development of the economy and the development of the steel industry, nickel The demand is constantly increasing.
Because nickel has good corrosion resistance, it is often used in electroplating. It is mainly used for alloys (formulations) (such as nickel steel and nickel silver) and as a catalyst (such as Raney Nickel, especially as a catalyst for hydrogenation). It can be used to make currency, etc. It can be plated on other metals to prevent rust. Mainly used to make stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloys, such as nickel steel, nickel-chromium steel and various non-ferrous metal alloys, nickel-containing high copper-nickel alloy, it is not easy to corrosion. Also for hydrogenation catalysts and for ceramic products, specialty chemical vessels, electronic circuits, glass green and nickel compounds, etc.
Due to the needs of infrastructure construction, China is the major consumer of all base metals. While the nickel industry in China continues to develop, there are also some problems, such as the low taste of nickel ore, the small percentage of open mining, the recoverable reserves only account for 10% of the total reserves, and the mining and smelting technologies are relatively backward; Weak acid or weak alkali medium flotation process is generally adopted, and the ore processing capacity is 4.3 million tons/year. China’s nickel smelting is generally selected by the pyrometallurgical process except for several large-scale enterprises. Nickel sulphide anode membrane electrolysis and sulfuric acid are mainly used for refining nickel. Selective leaching – electrowinning process, and the world’s advanced technology there is a certain gap, so the cost of mining and smelting in China remains high.
Source: China Steel Pipes Manufacturer – wilsonpipeline Pipe Industry Co., Limited (www.wilsonpipeline.com)

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