Some people once worried that the earth's nickel resources are very scarce. Is this true? In recent years, according to the statistics of the International Nickel Association, there are relatively abundant nickel metal resources on the earth, which can meet the needs of sustainable development of various countries in the world. From a quantitative point of view, excluding deep sea reserves, there are about 300 million tons of nickel ore resources on land alone, and the current global nickel use is about 2 million tons, even with an annual growth rate of 3% to 5%, Existing nickel storage is also sufficient to support usage. The nickel ore on land is mainly laterite nickel and nickel sulfide. Laterite nickel ore is mainly distributed around the equator, and the ratio of existing terrestrial laterite nickel ore to nickel sulfide is about 6:4. Nickel is distributed in many regions of the world, among which China and Indonesia are the main storage and production bases of nickel. Laterite nickel ore is mainly used in China to manufacture nickel-iron products, such as stainless steel.

Nickel is one of the metals that can meet the concept of circular economy. In theory, stainless steel or nickel is 100% non-degradable and recyclable. Scrap stainless steel and scrap nickel will not cause quality degradation due to recycling. The recycled nickel metal can also be used as a very good raw material again. It is understood that in many countries and regions around the world, 82% of nickel metal can be recycled and reused. At this stage, the global annual nickel mining volume is 1.9 million tons, while the global nickel consumption is about 25 million tons. The surface nickel reserves are about 100 million tons, and the nickel that can be mined in the subsurface is about 200 million tons, for a total of 300 million tons. It is not difficult to see that such a high nickel recovery rate and rich resource reserves can fully meet the high development needs of all countries' industries and the incremental demand for nickel, and meet the requirements of sustainable development.

From the perspective of nickel use, laterite nickel ore is mainly used for sintering and smelting, and the initial nickel products are used for the production of nickel pig iron, nickel oxide, electronickel, nickel carbonyl and so on. These primary nickel products are used the most in stainless steel manufacturing. The nickel use of stainless steel accounts for about 68% of the total global nickel use. In China, 86% of nickel is used in the production of stainless steel. In addition, some alloys, superalloys, etc. will use nickel, and the nickel content of alloy steel and nickel-containing layers is about 9%. Electroplating is also a field with a large amount of nickel, and the amount of nickel used is about 8%. As an emerging industry of new energy batteries, although the current use of nickel is only 3%, it is expected that the future growth will be very considerable. In comparison, the total nickel use of stainless steel is still larger in quantity. It is worth noting that China is a major producer of stainless steel, and half of the world's stainless steel is produced in China.

In the end market, the application of nickel mainly focuses on transportation, such as automobiles, trains, planes, etc. In addition, some electronic products, petrochemical chemicals, energy engineering equipment, etc. will use nickel metal. Nickel is also used in the green building field. At present, many developed countries use nickel-containing stainless steel curtain walls, nickel-containing sunshade systems, and nickel-containing interior decorations in the construction industry. Statistical results show that in some relatively large projects, the use of nickel-containing stainless steel can reduce the cost of maintenance and other aspects.

Food safety is an issue that everyone is very concerned about, and the selection of food contact materials is an important part of the safety issue. 300 series stainless steel is currently the most widely used in food contact materials. In addition to tableware and kitchen utensils, nickel-containing stainless steel is also used in food machinery manufacturing. The quality of water quality will have an impact on physical health. Therefore, the selection of materials used in the water supply system is also particularly important. At present, nickel-containing stainless steel is used in many water supply system projects, which is more common in Western countries. In China, many enterprises and institutions are vigorously promoting the application of stainless steel materials in water supply systems, and relevant state departments have also mentioned the use of stainless steel water pipes in water quality planning.

The reason why nickel has such a wide range of uses is mainly related to the unique physical, mechanical and chemical properties of nickel itself. Nickel has the advantages of good corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, durability, etc., and these properties can be used in the research and development of some new materials.

Data shows that the current global population base is about 7 billion. It is estimated that by 2050, the total world population will reach 10 billion, and the growth will mainly occur in developing countries. In the future, population growth will lead to a significant increase in human demand for substances. The accelerated pace of urbanization in developing countries has also put forward higher requirements for infrastructure construction. Humans pay more attention to energy, construction, transportation, health and other aspects, and the development of these aspects is inseparable from nickel metal. As far as my country is concerned, the development of urbanization has been very fast in recent years, and the population has shifted in some areas, such as the transformation of shantytowns. In addition, 300 million rural people are expected to move into cities in the future. With the rapid economic development, China's consumption power is getting stronger and stronger, and the consumption level is getting higher and higher, which also drives the growth of nickel-containing stainless steel. Ten years ago, the consumption of nickel-containing stainless steel in my country was only a few million tons, and now it has grown to more than 20 million tons. In the future, nickel metal also has broad application prospects. Shanghai Kangsheng Aviation Materials GH4169