In the period since 1989 the Yabulu Nickel Refinery of Queensland
Nickel has undergone a transformation both in terms of the nickel laterite
ore feed and the refined nickel product. These two changes were mutually supporting, as will be shown in the
following paper. It had been realised since the early-1980s that the Greenvale orebody
would be exhausted by 1992. Consequently planning had been in
progress throughout the 1980s for the importation of overseas ore as a
replacement for the Greenvale ore. The existence of extensive lateritic
ore deposits in New Caledonia and Indonesia made these locations the
natural focus of attention. With the three Japanese ferronickel smelters sourcing their nickel
garnierite ore feed from these locations it was relatively easy for the
miners to supply the overlying limonite ore to Yabulu. This limonite ore
was previously discarded as waste. The Yabulu refinery now receives
about 85 per cent of its ore from these two overseas sources. The
transition from Greenvale ore to imported ore occurred gradually between
1989 and 1993. It was during the ore importation planning stage of the mid 1980s that
Queensland Nickel commenced the technical investigation which led to
the ammoniacal solvent extraction (ASX) plant installation and the
product change from nickel oxide to nickel metal.