STEEL: New plant to use nickel sulphide conc in making stainless steel

CHINA – Tsingshan Holding Group is building the world's first integrated nickel pig iron plant to use nickel sulphide concentrate as part of the stainless steelmaking process. According to information supplied by Toronto's Royal Nickel Corp., this is a significant innovation that offers lower costs than traditional smelting and refining as well as greater flexibility for customers.

Royal Nickel signed a strategic alliance with Tsingshan in March 2013. The Canadian company hopes the new plant will accept concentrate from its Dumont nickel project 25 km west of Amos, QC. Commissioning of the mine and mill is anticipated in the first half of 2016.

Dumont is one of the world's largest undeveloped nickel sulphide deposits. It contains a proven and probable reserve of 1.18 billion tonnes at 0.27% Ni and a measured and indicated resource of 372 million tonnes at 0.28% Ni. There is also a inferred resource of 500 million tonnes at 0.26% Ni. There may be 6.9 billion lb of nickel in reserves, 9.75 billion lb in the measured and indicated category, plus 2.9 billion lb in the inferred material.

Read the economic analysis prepared in June 2013 at RoyalNickel.com.