ICN News – The people’s need for mining products has increased in line with the rising number of world population. Mining materials can further be processed into various human need products such as cars, hanphones, televisions, watches, jewelry, and various other products which have benefits for their life. One of beneficial mining products for people is nickel.
Nickel is one of mineral materials which can be mined in Indonesia, particularly in Soroako, South Sulawesi and Pomala, Southeast Sulawesi. Nickel mining product can be utilized to meet the people’s need such as the production of stainless steel, steel iron mixture (foundry), automotive frame manufacturing, electroplating, rechargeable battery manufacturing and others.
So far, nickel is marketed to domestic consuming industries and exported as well. A large extent of the nickel export is still in raw form (nickel ores). Indonesia is the second largest nickel exporter for steel industries in European Union. The export value of Indonesian nickel ores had increased significantly in the last several years. Reportedly, the export of Indonesian nickel ores went up significantly in 2019 if compared with those in 2017 and 2018.
Since the nickel export in raw export is appraised to be disadvantageous, the government in 2019 banned the export of this mining material in raw form. The banning refers to Ministrial Regulation (Permen) ESDM No. 11/2019 on Second Amendment towards Ministrial Regulation (Permen) ESDM No. 25 dated 2018 on Mineral and Coal Mining Concession.
Reportedly, nickel has a very important role in steel production process since it has rust resistant characteristic. In its pure state, nickel is soft, but when combined with iron, chrome and other metals, it can form hard stainless steel. The combination of nickel, chrome and iron produces stainless steel which is widely applied to kitchen utensils, house and building ornaments, electronics, and industrial components.
This article can be read in the February 2024 edition of ICN News Magazine.
Advertisement and subscription can be contacted: WA or Email
Need a Research Book? Please visit CDMI Consulting
