Hi @OldMon3yI hear what you are saying and you make a very valid...

Hi @OldMon3y

I hear what you are saying and you make a very valid point i.e. that some people believe that Nickel sulphide production from Australia is permanently dead in the water due to cheaper Ni production from Indonesian laterite ore. IMO your concerns are valid however the issue is complex. My understanding is that high grade sulphide Ni can complete against laterite on price. Also, at the current Ni price around USD 16,000 per tonne the Indonesian laterite producers are hurting too - it's estimated by BHP and others that >50% of global Ni production is currently losing money. There is also the issue of the environmental impact of the Ni laterite mining. If you refer to the LM8 thread you can find more posts about laterite versus Ni sulphide production. Also, Chris Cairns from SVY presented the other day and explained that Ni from magmatic nickel deposits (akin to this Calesi prospect being drilled) can be very profitable and at the bottom end of the cost curve. This was interesting for me as I've always just thought of 2 categories of Ni production - Ni from Ni sulphides and Ni from laterite ores. Chris made the point that Ni sulphide production can come from channel type deposits (which are typically smaller and higher grade and relatively high cost i.e. Kambalda style deposits) and also from magmatic Ni deposits that can be very large and lucrative and sit at the bottom end of the cost curve eg. Nova Nickel Mine & Voisey Bay.

So, it would appear that success in finding a significant magmatic Ni deposit (easier said than done) could certainly enable us to compete cost wise against the Indo laterite Ni.

GLTA & DYOR