Interesting article on Nickel - have posted just the conclusion...

Interesting article on Nickel - have posted just the conclusion - see link for complete article

Conclusion

Nickel laterite deposits were first discovered in 1864 by French civil engineer Jules Garnier in New Caledonia – commercial production started in 1875. New Caledonia’s laterites were the world’s largest source of nickel until Sudbury Ontario’s sulphide deposits started production in 1905 and totally dominated global production.

Mining companies are now stepping back in time and are shifting exploration efforts to ever more remote, geo-politically challenged locations in a search for laterite ore because of a lack of discovery of new nickel sulfide deposits.

Ask yourself, “when is the best time to invest?”

While you mull over that question here’s five facts for you:

•Nickel is currently unloved

•There aren’t any nickel names left. Without Inco or Falconbridge, who do you invest in if you want nickel? The largest nickel producing companies, Norilsk, Vale and Xstrata don't actually provide a lot of leverage to nickel as they are diversified miners – meaning they also produce iron, manganese, bauxite, aluminum, copper, coal, cobalt, potash, platinum-group metals, gold and silver

•Every country needs to secure supplies of needed commodities at competitive prices yet supply is increasingly constrained and demand is growing

•All of a sudden, in the not too distant future, juniors exploring for nickel from sulphide ore deposits will become much more interesting. Especially so if they are working in geopolitically stable countries

•Pure junior sulphide nickel exploration plays aren't common

http://www.mining.com/web/nickel-mining-like-its-1864/