A private mining syndicate is reportedly headed by Hugh Morgan, a mining industry veteran. Is said to have discovered nickel deposit in a town in the north which said to be over a hundred of kilometers from the country’s capital. Dangoma is a small farming community North-West state of Kaduna.

Report monitored from Australian national news daily, The Australian, the nickel balls, rumoured to grade better than 90 per cent nickel and thought to be a world first given their widespread distribution, offer the potential for early cash flow.

Nickel is a chemical elment with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the， transition metals and is hard and ductile.

“The nickel balls, rumoured to grade better than 90 per cent nickel and thought to be a world first given their widespread distribution, offer the potential for early cashflow from a simple and low-cost screening operation to fund a full assessment of the find that has exploration circles buzzing.”

However, details of the discovery are sketchy, according to the Australian national news, but the newspapers said, “the discovery is unusual because the nickel is found in small balls up to 3mm in diameter of a high purity in shallow soils in what could be the surface expression of a much bigger hard-rock nickel field.”

Morgan reportedly said it was for the Nigerian government to make an announcement.

A formal announcement is likely to come in few days to come as minister for Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi will be among the speakers at a three-day Africa Down Under mining conference at Perth’s Pan Pacific Hotel, Australia, in September.

Mr. Fayemi is to speak first on Wednesday, September 7, while Mr Morgan will follow along with consulting geologist Louisa Lawrance.

Nickel is said oxidizes slowly at room temperature and is considered corrosion resistant. Historically, nickel has been used for plating iron and brass, coating chemistry equipment, and manufacturing certain alloys that retain a high silvery polish, such as German silver.

• [Editor:malifang]