Shanghai bonded refined nickel stocks rose 200 mt on week

First Atlantic Nickel & Cobalt Corp. has received a supplemental exploration permit from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for its wholly owned Pipestone XL Nickel-Cobalt Alloy Project, covering a 30-kilometre ophiolite complex. The permit authorizes wellbore water injection, additional drilling, and Electrical Resistivity Tomography surveys. The project targets awaruite (Ni3Fe), a naturally occurring nickel-iron-cobalt alloy (~77% nickel) that requires no smelting, roasting, or acid leaching — eliminating processing steps typical of sulphide or laterite ore. The permit also advances a secondary initiative to stimulate geologic hydrogen production by injecting water into serpentinizing ultramafic rock, developed in collaboration with the Colorado School of Mines.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has formally certified the USA B exploration license application submitted by TMC USA, the U.S. subsidiary of The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC). The USA B area covers approximately 122,000 km² of seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, estimated to contain 1.02 billion tonnes of polymetallic nodules with high grades of nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. NOAA will now begin preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for TMC USA's proposed exploration activities. The certification follows NOAA's April 2026 determination that TMC USA's separate consolidated application for an exploration license and commercial recovery permit for the USA A area is fully compliant with the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act.

Nickel 28 Capital (TSXV: NKL), which holds an 8.56% joint-venture interest in the Ramu Nickel-Cobalt operation in Papua New Guinea, reported FY2025 (year ended Jan 31, 2026) production of 33,007 tonnes of contained nickel and 3,099 tonnes of cobalt in MHP — positioning Ramu among the larger global MHP producers. Average realized nickel prices were $6.88/lb ($15,164/t) and cobalt $16.07/lb, generating total Ramu project revenue of approximately $529 million, up from $471 million in FY2024. Net production costs, net of by-products, averaged $3.47/lb of contained nickel. The company repaid $6.5 million of construction debt during the year, reducing the remaining balance to $31.9 million, and ended the period with a cash balance of $9.1 million.