Nickel Mining Like its 1864 .

[Ponce]

Got nickels?......time is short......don't messed around and get them.Go to link for rest of long article =====================================

Nickel is present in over 3000 different alloys that are used in over 300,000 products for consumer, industrial, military, transport/aerospace, marine and architectural applications.



Nickel’s biggest use, about 65%, is in alloying - particularly with chromium and other metals to produce stainless and heat-resisting steels. Its primary function is to stabilize the austenitic (face-centered cubic crystal) structure of the steel. Normal carbon steel will, on cooling, transform from an austenite structure to a mixture of ferrite and cementite. When added to stainless steel nickel stops this transformation keeping the material fully austenite on cooling. Austenitic stainless steels have high ductility, low yield stress and high tensile strength when compared to carbon steel - aluminum and copper are examples of other metals with the austenitic structure.



Another 20% is used in other steels, non-ferrous alloys (mixed with metals other than steel) and super alloys (metal mixtures designed to withstand extremely high temperatures and/or pressures or have high electrical conductivity) often for highly specialized industrial, aerospace and military applications.



About 9% is used in plating to slow down corrosion and 6% for other uses, including coins, electronics, in *batteries for portable equipment and hybrid cars, as a catalyst for certain chemical reactions and as a colorant - nickel is added to glass to give it a green color. In many of these applications there is no substitute for nickel without reducing performance or increasing cost.


*Rechargeable nickel-hydride batteries are used for cellular phones, video cameras, and other electronic devices. Nickel-cadmium batteries are used to power cordless tools and appliances.



The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has funded a variety of programs designed to encourage more rapid development of renewable energy sources. Specific research and development projects included:

domestic manufacturing of advanced batteries
development of improved stationary and portable fuel cell power systems
development of commercial scale bio-refineries
improved design of molten salt storage facilities at power plants that concentrate solar energy
design and evaluation of parabolic troughs, dishes, and heliostats for solar power stations
construction of demonstration facilities designed to recover and better utilize geothermal energy


All of these expanding subsectors for generating power have the potential to be important users of nickel metal and or nickel-bearing alloys.

http://aheadoftheherd.com/Newsletter/2012/Nickel-Mining-Like-its-1864.htm

[Sparky]

I haven't seen any recent updates on the switch to the new coin compositions. Last thing I could find was from the beginning of this year:

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/mint-begins-trial-strikes-in-composition-test/

The company doing the testing has a contract that runs through the first half of 2013. So I suspect the new composition will be introduced in 2014.

[Neuro]

Ponce? I think you got the centuries mixed up 1864 was when you were fighting the war of northern aggression, 1964 was when you were mining wilver...

[Neuro]

I haven't seen any recent updates on the switch to the new coin compositions. Last thing I could find was from the beginning of this year:

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/mint-begins-trial-strikes-in-composition-test/

The company doing the testing has a contract that runs through the first half of 2013. So I suspect the new composition will be introduced in 2014.
There was a post on here a week or so ago stating that the nickel (and the penny) may be discontinued in 2013...

[Sparky]

There was a post on here a week or so ago stating that the nickel (and the penny) may be discontinued in 2013...

That was a hoax.

[Neuro]

That was a hoax.
Oh ok, I didn't know that...

[SWRichmond]

A few more tidbits from the article:

"Capex costs are escalating because:

Declining ore grades means a much larger relative scale of required mining and milling operations
A growing proportion of mining projects are in remote areas of developing economies where there’s little to no existing infrastructure

The bottom line? It is becoming increasingly expensive to bring new mines on line and run them. The same trends are also evident for new nickel mines, where capital intensity has gone through the roof:

Capital costs on a per pound basis escalating rapidly over the last decade
The discrepancy between the initial per pound capital cost of nickel projects, and the ultimate construction costs, are over 50 percent
Economies of scale have not been reflected by lower unit capital costs – large projects have similar or even higher capital intensity



AFAIAC these things affect nearly all searches for real resources. The US has reached the end of it ability to buy them simply by abusing the privilege of printing more reserve currency.