Nickel Commodities in Western Australia

Late in 2007 Ausminerals announced exploration results from a drilling program which indicated elevated nickel values.

The Leonora area is highly prospective for nickel and is home to the very successful Minara Resources nickel and cobalt mining and processing operation as well as another ASX listed company who have reported resources exceeding 2,000,000 tonnes containing nickel at their Mertondale prospect near Ausmineral's properties.

Nickel is a metal that is used as an alloy to impart strength, corrosion resistance and other electrical, heat and magnetic properties. Accordingly, about 65 per cent of world demand is for stainless steel used in consumer goods, chemical processing plants and construction. A further 20 per cent is used in metal alloys and 7 per cent in nickel plating. A fast growing demand is for nickel metal hydride electrical storage cells.

About 99 per cent of Australia's nickel is produced in Western Australia supplying about 13 per cent of world production