1. General

Nickel, a grayish-white metal with yellow highlights, has been known for centuries (used in weapons and coinage), but was only isolated in 1751 by Swedish chemist Axel Frédérick Cronstedt. It is found in the earth's mantle and core (essentially in the form of sulfides, oxides or silicates) or allied to iron in certain meteorites. The largest (mined) deposits are in Canada (Sudbury region), New Caledonia (the French discoverer Jules Garnier gave his name to the ore: Garnierite, (Ni, Mg) SiO ₃ .n H ₂ O), the former USSR and Australia.

Its use as a pure metal is mainly as a battery component (associated with other metals such as cadmium), in wire form (for wire cloth, for example), in coins or as a catalyst for hydrogenation or chlorination (Paul Sabatier or Raney reduced nickel)....