Curious To Learn?
THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS
|
|
|
THE NICKEL INDUSTRY adds about €40 billion to the value of the European economy every year. |
|
I have a confession to make: When I was studying geology and mine engineering in the 1980s, I had little appreciation for how, why and where the metals I was learning to mine from the Canadian Shield were being used in society. I learned that demand for metals grew as the global economy developed and that prices rose if supply fell short of demand. Why demand increased was immaterial; all that mattered to a recently graduated mining engineer was to get the sulphide ore safely to the mill at the lowest possible cost, preferably well below the going market price for the contained metal. Otherwise, he’d be out of a job.
My first job was designing underground mining stopes using vertical-crater-retreat technology at the Copper Cliff South and McCreedy West mines in the Sudbury area of Canada, and yet, at the time, I was unaware of the vast number of end-use applications for the copper and nickel that were being mined. I had a vague notion of the use of nickel in stainless steel and high-temperature superalloys (as used in the airline industry), but my interests were more in the area of spherical explosive charges, load factors and rock mechanics.
It’s safe to say most nickel miners in Sudbury in the 1980s had little knowledge of the important role nickel plays in our lives, and while the internet makes it easier to obtain such information today, the situation probably hasn’t really improved much.
Indeed, the populations of advanced industrial societies the world over are still largely unaware of the necessity of nickel. To improve the general knowledge of nickel will require a monumental effort. But such an effort is needed, most pressingly in the European Union, where a chemicals policy known as REACH is about to change the way nickel is used, reused and even perceived, and not necessarily for the better. If the positive role nickel plays in society is not communicated effectively, the export of this policy (via the OECD) throughout the rest of the world could potentially damage nickel’s justified good reputation and therefore market demand.
Having worked in communications for the Nickel Development Institute and now the Nickel Institute over the past seven years, I can safely say I’ve gained a much greater appreciation of nickel. I’ve learned that there is virtually no limit to its versatility and seemingly essential uses. To get this information across to those in need of it, or who are at least curious, my challenge now is to remember what it was like not to know, and to present the available information in a way that’s engaging and compelling.
That’s why this special issue of Nickel Magazine is designed the way it is. We’ve attempted to highlight five essential uses of nickel in the every-day lives of people the world over, and in Europe in particular. By highlighting these uses – in the fashion, home entertainment, airline and dairy industries -- we hope to demonstrate the societal value of this unique natural resource. There are literally thousands of applications of nickel and nickel-containing materials; the five you’ll read about in these pages are only among the most essential ones. We invite you to visit the sources of online information provided throughout this publication to find out more, and as always, we welcome your comments.
Editor
<< Previous -- Next >>
