Nickel ores

Nickel ore deposits occur in the Lower Silesian region (map). These are deposits of nickel oxide ores formed in the result of a serpentinized ultramafic rocks weathering process. The exploitation of the major nickel ore deposit at Szklary in the vicinities of Ząbkowice Śląskie was phased out in 1983 as uneconomic.

Anticipated economic resources of nickel ores did not changed in 2017. Anticipated economic resources (B and C₁ categories) amounted to 17.21 million tonnes of ores with a metallic nickel content of 125.0 thousand tonnes (the limiting content of Ni in the deposit is 0.8%). Anticipated sub-economic resources amounted to 21.32 million tonnes of ore and 84 thousand tonnes of metallic nickel. The ore resources of Grochów deposit were classified as anticipated sub-economic (Table 1).

Prognostic resources of the Ni-layer silicate type ores in small and separate lenses in Cenozoic serpentinite wastes in the northern, eastern and southern buffer zone of the Sowie Mts. block gneisses (Lower Silesia) are estimated for ca. 25 thousand tonnes*.

Nickel is also one of the accompanying metals in copper ores from the Fore-Sudetic Monocline. The copper deposits yield about 70.44 thousand tonnes of nickel which is recovered in technological processes as nickel sulfides. In 2017, the processing of copper sulfide ores gave 1,790 tonnes of nickel sulfides.

Table 1. List of nickel ores deposits – thousand tonnes
Table 2. Nickel coexisting in copper ores – – thousand tonnes

Prepared by: Stanisław Z. Mikulski

*Mikulski S.Z., 2011 - Rudy niklu. In: Bilans perspektywicznych zasobów kopalin Polski wg stanu na 31 XII 2009 r. (ed. S. Wołkowicz, T. Smakowski, S. Speczik): 107-109. PIG-PIB, Warszawa.