SURVEY OF NICKEL PRODUCTION IN THE SOVIET BLOC (SANITIZED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A045000040001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 13, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
ThL matsriat contains information sIIectinQ the National Defense of the IInited Btatea within the meaning of the Espionage Lava, Title
18, II.B.C. Becs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in say manner to sa unauthorised person 1b prohibited by law.
IISSR~Soviet Bloc
Survey of Nickel Production in the
Soviet Bloc
NO UIREMENT RD
1. A 12-page survey of nickel production in the Soviet Bloc
including a map of ore deposits in the Soviet Blo c
2. This report is part of a series of economic surveys on the production
of strategic raw materials and. contains information on nickel production
ore~~.deposits, and. supply problems in the Soviet Bloc 1
The survey includes statistics through 1957 and. estimates for-1 8. I~' ~,2
is undocumented.
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DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE &
DATE.. ACCT.
STATE ]( ARMY $ NAVY a[ A I R
}[ FBI
REPORT
DATE DISTR. 13 October 1958
NO. PAGES 1
T ORR/Ev x
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~~~a, C~rnerc
CONFIDENTIAL
STRATEGIC RA~iz P.~1xi'ITii;RIr1LS
g. Steel Alloying Plletals.
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PAGE
1. Properties a,nd Uses
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1.1. Properties
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1.2. Uses
1
3. Ore Deposits
3.2. Deposits in the Soviet Bloc
3.2.1. The Soviet Union
3.2.2. The Satellite Countries
3.2.3. The Latest D~~?osit Discoveries
4. Production
4.2. In the Soviet Bloc
5. Supply Problems
5.2. Problems of the Soviet Bloc
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1. Properties and Uses.
1.1. Properties
Nickel is a tough and hard metal hihly resist~rnt to corrosion, wear, shock and
high temperatures. It is second in abundance among the heavy metals. t:pith reg~:.rd
to prevalence it ranges as number 22 among the elements. Its melting point is
1452 C.Nickel is ductile, malleable and weldable, it can be rolled hot or cold,
but not suitable for casting. It is somewhat magnetic, much less so than iron,
however. Its electric conductivity is 4 to 5 times less than that of copper.
Nickel is very suit~^ble for electroplating.
A little less than half of world nickel consumption goes into iron and steel
alloys. In wartime this proportion, however, is considerably incre_.sed.~
~~ong
the alloy metals nickel is the one which has the greatest variety of applications.
To-day more than 300o different alloys are registered with nickel contents varying;
from 99.7 to 2 per cent. Besides with iron, nickel is alloyed with molybdenum,
cobalt, chromium, titanium and others.
Low-grade nickel-steel alloys contain from o.5 to 0.7 per cent of nickel, high-
grade nickel-steel contains from 7 to 35 per cent of nickel. The former type of
alloys is used in motor-cars, aeroplanes, railway rolling stock, axels etc. nigh-
grade nickel-steel is applied in ship-building, chemical e~luipment, precision
instruments, armour, ammunition (e.g. shell cases , jet engines, pipes, canr:on
parts exposed to shock and hard wear. Nickel alloys are extensively used in mo-
dern electric industry.
iviany coins are made of nickel or nickel alloys.
In various applications chromium, manganese, molybdenum and cadmium may be substi-
tuted for nickel.
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i r i ~ K~.ilir~c it /
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3.2. Deposits in .the Soviet Bloc
3.2.1. The Soviet Union
The Soviet Union has nickel sulfide deposits at Pechenga (formerly Petsamo~~ at
Monchegorsk on the Kola peninsula and in the Norilsk area. 25 - 3o per cent. of
the Soviet nickel reserves are thought to be contained in the Pechenga and Mon-
chegorsk deposits. Besides nickel the ore contains capper and cobalt. The nickel-
copper ratio is estimated at 2.0 - 2.6:1, the nickel-cobalt ratio at 80 - 67:1.
The nickel content of the Pechenga ore is put at 1 - 3.5 per cent. and the metal 25X1
reserves at 230 - 240.000 tons. The nickel content of the P;ionche;orsk ore is
estimated at about 1.8 per cent., which represents about 180.000 tons of nickel.
nic a production of the .Kola Peninsula in 195 was 4. times as large as before
the war. It is not known whether this figus~e referred to the production of ore
or to the refined nickel output.
According to a. western estimate, 15.000 tons of nickel were produced in 1957 from
Pechenga ore. In 1960 t~~is production is calculated to reach c. 29.000 tons.
Should this forecast come true, Pechenga must be considered the most important
Soviet nickel area..
The Norilsk deposits are thought to be the largest in the Soviet Union. In 1937
the nickel reserves were estimated at 500.000 tons, the copper and platinum re-
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serves at 720.000 and 370 tons respectively. Large quantities of cobalt are also
located there.
The Soviet Union is thought to have large nickel reserves in the nickel silicate
deposits in the Southern and Central Urals. The principal deposits are Khalilovo~
Akkerman and Aidyrla in the Southern Urals and Buranovo-Selekhta in north-east
Kazakhstan. The Uralsk nickel ores contain from 1 to 7 per cent. of nickel and
are found at depths down to 300 metres. Many of the deposits are being mined by
the open cast method. The nickel ores consists mainly of silicates very like the
New Caledonian deposits. Nickel sulfides like those of the Sudbury district do
not occur. Cobalt is found in the ores. The cobalt-nickel ratio is ls2o.
The Khalilovo deposit was estimated at 240.000 tons of nickel in 1933, a figure
which is now thought to have been put too low. The reserves in the other south
Uralsk deposits are not known. However, the Akkerman are thought to be almost
exhausted now. The Buranovo-Shelekhta(Aktyu.binsk) deposits are probably smaller
than the i~halilovo deposits. In 1933 the reserves were put at 70 - 100.000 tons
of nickel. The nickel percentage increased with the ~?epth from 0.72 per cent. to
1.5 per cent. at a depth of 28 metres. The deposits in tYie Central Urals, such
as Ufalei are older and often with a high nickel content (4 per cent.) They are
thought to be nearly exhausted.
In the Soviet Union new nickel discoveries are expected, especially within the
western part, south of Norilsk, of the Fast Si~~irian plateau. The Sixth Five-ye,ar
Plan counts on a 30 - 35 per cent. increase of known nickel reserves.
3.2.2. The Satellite Countries
The Soviet Bloc is not thought to possess large nickel reserves outside tine Soti.:
Union. In East Germany the reserves are put at 66.000 tons of contained metal.
Small quantities of nickel and other metals e.g. cobalt are found in the ore
mined to obtain its uranium content. The size of the North Korean nickel deposits
are not known. In 1944 Production here reached a peak of 57.000 tons of ore, from
which was recovered 443 tons of pure metal.
Nickel and copper occur in the albanian iron ore. The "tiuantities are not known.
The nickel content of the ore is recovered at the Vitkovice iron works at Ostrava
in Czechoslovakia.
Poland has a small production of nic_reJ
re in c. o ons o nicek content).
3.2.3. The Latest Discoveries
An uncorroborated report says that a Russian work team has for some time been
examining a nickel find about 20 kilometres from the Jarfjordsfjeld in South
Varanger. The deposit may be a branch of the deposit found during the inter-war
period at Svanvik in Finland.
deposits of nickel silicate ore have been
o~in es aza stan and that this deposit has already been thorou~-hly
In East Germany a nickel deposit was discovered in 1952 at Kuhschnappcl.~;ast Ger-
many is hoping to meet its home consumption with nickel from this deposit.
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In Bulgaria nickel ore was found in 1955. Investigation is still in progress to
scertain whether remunerative exploitation is possible.
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COTtFIDEDTTIAL
Nickel plants in the Soviet 131oc.
Soviets (Estimated annual capacity
Orsk lo.ooo tons.
Monchegorsk lo.ooo -
Pechenga lo.ooo -
Norilsk
5 - lo.ooo - 25x
Ufalei
???????????
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Production figures from Kazakhstan, Alma Ata, Karaganda, Semipalateusk, Lenino-
gorsk and Zakomemk in the Chita area are not available. 25X1
The Orsk nickel plant works on ore from the Southern Urals.
The Monchegorsk plant started production in 1 8. During the war ed.
Its production in 1953 is estimated at 500o tons, at 25X1
lo..ooo tons.
The Pechen~a plant was enlarged during the war by the Germans who had planned an
annual production of lo.ooo tons of 'nickel a,nd 6.00o tons of copper. A peak annuaJ_
cutput of 9.00o tons was reached in 1943. To-day there are many signs that an
extension is taking place or has just been completed so that x.11 nickel extracte~'
within that area can now be refined locally.. The capacity will probably be wub-
stantially above lo.ooo annually by 1960.
Norilsk This plant was built during tflorld ~;i~ar II near Igarka. This plant is
thought by some to be the largest in the USSR.
As a by-product from nickel production, 60o tons of cobalt are produced annually
in the Soviet Union.
East Germany:
At Hu.ttenwerke Aue are produced electrolytic nickel and nickel anodes. Production
at Hizttenwerke Oberschlemma is slight. At the St. Egidien Nickel jlorks nickel
is produced in an experi,~ental plant. The Substitution of a nickel smelter. for
the experimental plant is being planned. The production of this plant is to meet
East Germanys consumption. The ore comes from a near-by mine. In 1956 the out-
put of the plant was 20o tons. In 1958 30o tons of nickel are to be produced
according to the plans and it is hoped that production may be increased to l.o~~
tons by 1960. The finished nickel has a purity of 99.6 per cent.
Czechoslovakia:
The Vitkovice Iron ',dorks at Ostrava. The raw mwte-rial is Albanian ore. The nickel
extraction plant, which it took a year to build, is probably of recent date.
5.
Supply Problems
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5.2. Problems of the Soviet Bloc
In the years 1936 - 38 the USSR imported 44.500 tons of nickel and during? the
war 22.300 tons. Then all nickel export to the USSR came to ~.n end. During the
war Russian consumption was considerably reduced as large sections of the nickel
industry were put out of function. Consequently Shimkin's assertion, in his
"P;Iiner