Why Nickel Mining Is So Important In New Caledonia | The Earth's Riches | Spark

[Music] that is how it must have been many hundreds of years ago the men discovered a rich vein in the rock the vein had to be mined but the silver that the miners had been after was suddenly not silver anymore rumor had it that goblins had transformed it into something else to stop people's greed no one else was to rule the underground kingdom of the earth spirits fearlessly the miners from the ore mountains in Saxony advanced deeper and deeper into the interior of the earth but instead of silver they kept coming across this unknown substance which they believed was bewitched and worthless they named it after the ominous goblins nickel [Music] [Music] [Music] New Caledonia is situated in the huge expense of the Pacific Ocean on the other side of the equator around 1500 kilometers east of Australia the archipelago is surrounded by a massive coral reef [Music] across many kilometers rocky terraces lean against the mountains they are evidence of surface mining which reaches the treasure from above nowhere else can you find so much nickel in such a limited space around one quarter of the world's nickel deficits are in New Caledonia the French overseas territory lives off mining nickel and has been for several hundred years if it is up to the big mining firms the valuable raw material will continue to be mined for a long time Erica ty works for the society mean--yeah do suit Pacific the s MSP it is a local company Erica ty is a Canuck as the native inhabitants of New Caledonia call themselves Canuck means nothing other than human being until very recently Canucks only held menial jobs but this is no longer the case I'm only 40 and I have noticed that never before has a native been responsible for mining never before has it connec held the position that I am holding now being the boss of the mine get after both gives you the product that we make is very important for us it means jobs for the people around the Katai comes from very near the waka mine that is why I speak swim in the local language one of 27 New Caledonian languages in order to get along well with his colleagues it is essential that he is able to communicate in their language it is often more important than being able to answer technical questions the my neighbor Silverman over to rob one they are all I'm gonna be nearby [Music] it is one of erica Ty's responsibilities to always be in the right place at the right time he organizes controls and directs he has a hand in making sure that the raw material nickel which the world relies upon can be constantly supplied [Music] [Music] Erica ty has been part of it for 20 years half of his life there's hardly anything in the mind that he has not done before if one of his team drops out he slips into one of his former roles be it as a machinist at the rock machine or driving the shovel excavator [Music] as far as this is possible Erica type proceeds carefully to get to the nickel he follows the instructions of the geologists but not all stone is the same he has come across some all it contains enough of the green gold as they used to call nickel in New Caledonia and is worth processing [Music] silly Kirsty is a mining engineer in nippy around 100 kilometers south of whacko the 38 year old man from southern France has seen a lot of the world in Africa he mostly dug for gold New Caledonia he's looking for nickel the mine of nippy is situated on the capito massive it is one of four mines run by the French state mining society SLN the society Luna killed the SLN has been in New Caledonia since the end of the 19th century before cherry caste drives to the mine he asks his boss whether the long-awaited cargo ship has arrived yet it is supposed to pick up the nickel thank you did you see that the ship will arrive at half past three in the afternoon no I thought it would right this morning though yes but it is late it was supposed to come this morning but it was rescheduled in New Caledonia nickel ore can be found under a very thin layer of earth the nickel containing layers are 30 to 40 metres thick and sometimes up to 100 meters today the engineers are taking an interest in this red and yellow laterites oil with nickel Gerry caste wants to know how the test drills are going with the help of a machine the miners are obtaining rock samples from deep below the earth's surface in order to locate the nickel that drill team has to make the circle smaller and smaller and drill every few meters the mining engineers need a precise picture of the underground layers of nickel what we can guess here is exactly what we see there only what sticks to the edge there everything you can see but we avoid going right to the edge and on the other side it seems that the plane with Fischer over there at the back blocks up broke at the iron right I thought that there are more minerals the problem is if we want to do something over there we would first of all have to remove the unproductive layers and to know whether we can manage that the test drills will decide over the future of the mine nobody knows whether or how much nickel is buried there until recently geologists thought that one part of the mine could be closed down then they turned out to be wrong they came across a layer that contains ten years worth of nickel Jerrica stay and his colleagues are eagerly waiting to see what the hollow rod will bring to light [Music] the miners immediately see that the rock is not as promising as they had thought only when the rock is weathered is there a chance of nickel deficits geli Castilla wants to know more details about the drill how deep are you eleven meters [Music] before this test drill the experts carried out some geological calculations according to those there should be nickel here what you see here is not what we expected the most important thing for mineralization to take place is the weathering of the rock when we look for is material that has deteriorated and here we see healthy material that has not undergone many changes that means that we have less of a chance to find my noble nickel for us this type of material is sterile simply unusable it is of no significance to us what we look for is areas where there have been changes areas with a layer of loam where you can find nickel it is enough zero is done against our community in those places where the miners did discover something the niccola's mind and shifts around 850,000 tons of nickel ore per year this makes the NIP we mine one of the largest in New Caledonia it is five kilometres long its highest plateaus are a thousand metres above sea level [Music] the miners use heavy equipment to get at the nickel in order to mine one ton of nickel or they have to move several times that amount from one place to another the shovel dozers bulldozers and trucks carry off between four and seven times that amount from the mountains the pure nickel content of the rock is around 2.9 percent in nepi compared with other mines that is a lot like in every other industry the mining industry can no longer get by without computers the 100-ton trucks are equipped with satellite navigation systems that way the engineers always know what how much and where to the material is transported any remaining uncertainties can be settled via radio miners are sought after in New Caledonia it has not always been that way mines had to be closed down 20 years ago today the demand for nickel is larger than ever this is one of the reasons when the workers earn a relatively good wage a lorry driver earns around 190,000 for Pacific per month that's 1600 euros as much as a teacher [Music] back to the wok Oh mine on the New Caledonian West Coast occasionally Eric atai Himself lends a hand to roll the rocks along the locals are proud of their mind when mining began at the end of the 19th century New Caledonia was a French colony it was there for mostly French entrepreneurs who exploited land to this day it is predominantly international corporate groups who make a lot of money out of the mineral resources the local mining company which Erica ty works for reinvests their profits in the region and fish farms hotels and restaurants that way jobs are created outside the mines [Music] in order to separate the nickel ore from the worthless rock if the stones are first of all pre-sorted regular analysis ensure that the valuable nickel does not get lost I am taking a sample this is not really my job measure of a putz I do it because we don't have enough people we have asked for two people for this job and the two men will begin tomorrow the guy becomes a dinner the - put the biggest lumps which don't fall through the grid on the ramp into closed down parts of the mine or they are used for road building sometimes the boulders are so massive that they are not suitable for that all other rocks end up in the conch cursor with a deafening noise the rock eater immediately begins to do its job the rock is shaken and downst shattered and crushed the machine separates the different sizes large rocks that are of no interest from mining nickels slide down into the depth smaller rocks and nickel containing earth falls onto a conveyor belt that spits it out onto a heap a simple but effective technique watch this too much closer - come on hmm after the disappointing test drill clearly Castilla and his colleagues discussed what should be done next why should the next blasting take place work can they mine and what should they do with a huge amount of worthless rock that accumulates the solution for perhaps closing these areas is to start there again to realize the first third that way until then there's no risk of environmental pollution we do it as always yes even until here there is little risk good moment the engineers try to exploit the mineral of resources as best as possible often they cannot make allowances for the environmental impact this has [Music] [Music] in net we the weather nickel containing laterites oil is thoroughly rinsed like in a large washing machine drum with several pre wash stages [Music] the aim is to prepare the nickel ore in such a way that only very specific parts make the next stage of the journey namely across the seven kilometer long pipeline to another washing plant at the foot of the mine everything larger than three centimeters will be separated out beforehand and falls by the wayside extracting nickel is a very laborious process when Terry caste used to prospect for gold he achieved his goal earlier and yet nickel holds a fascination for him like many reasons that make people want to mine nickel it is a little bit like the gold fever in the history of North America that is why we chase it day after day and try to mine as much nickel as possible there is that factor it's a little bit like it is with gold after all they call nickel green gold especially in New Caledonia it is a little bit like when people bet on horses they bet on a certain horse and once they are into it they can't get away from it and it's a little bit like that here it is satisfying to be able to say see I have understood you I saw you I found you I've got you to study complete license to boost it wish that we completely HD from quite often deep clouds hang low over the mine of nip we that is when the temperatures at an altitude of a thousand meters can fall to almost freezing point if the clouds get even heavier and if you can see for less than 50 meters then the lorry drivers have to stop working the mine comes to arrest for a little while [Music] nickel mining in new caledonia has a hundred-year-old history it was not only political prisoners and convicts from France who came to the prisoner island but also adventurers from Europe Asia and America to make their fortune in the mines [Music] raawk naughty men an immigrant with French and Indonesian parentage worked as a miner in t boggy in the north of the island for many years together with his fellow miners he is trying to keep alive the memory of life in the mine when I got here in 1948 there weren't so many activities here there was only the mine the atmosphere was good that's what the atmosphere was like at that time everywhere wasn't at all like it is today because people today don't have the same sensitivities people think differently we used to be all brothers and sisters I knew seven fellow miners who died down in the mine because of earth slides explosions or because they fell into a pit or because the lift shaft cables 3ala cars the cop Cathy [Music] in some regions there's hardly a mountain that remains untouched by the engineers in their search for new deficits although today there are environmental obligations and none of the mining companies failed to point out the special environmental measures in their business reports it remains to be seen how successful it will be to plant bushes and trees where nickel is no longer being mind poor like Rio Dulce versus the leader in order to fill up these areas with worthless rock we use up natural areas in this case we use a very large areas to deficit useless stones and we have destroyed some virgin forests our main objective when we build a hill is to ensure stability to make sure that the whole thing is stable that is that all the rubble that we deficit in this place doesn't later end up in the valley nobody will achieve my job CEO will continue up war they will be enough activity that is the most important objective if we want to further develop our activities in new caledonia we must be able to show that we can do a neat job to leave a place without there being consequences for the locals for years or even centuries to come the environmental protection expenses are necessary to secure activities for the future not activity dinner on the way to one of the many diving grounds around New Caledonia only a few hundred metres jakey Mahmoud and Rick anacs have been fighting for years against the consequences of mining nickel for the coral reef and people's health they are lobbying for UNESCO to declare the second biggest reef system in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia a world heritage site mechanics who is American by birth has been living in New Caledonia for 20 years he believes that that is the only way to put a stop to the unchecked expansion of the nickel industry at least to some degree in the past the main consequences of nickel mining on the marine environment have been through a runoff and this runoff has also been aided by massive deforestation also and fires there are other more insidious and pernicious aspects of nickel mining such as the toxic heavy metals that runoff as well and there are many things we don't know yet which I'm sure will be discovered if if we investigate as part of the groundwork for this research rig annex looks at the state of the coral reef to register any changes an underwater desert the leachates from the mine cover the corals and take away the sunlight as a consequence they fade and die [Music] only a few meters further on it looks like this there is no pollution due to its secluded location over millions of years New Caledonia was able to develop a unique fauna and flora many species have not even been researched yet [Music] [Music] change of shift in the mind in Waku netiquette I makes sure that his colleagues Park the machines according to the rules every Drive in the mine has to carefully record how many tons of rock is transported that is the only way of monitoring the overall amount that is being mined every day Erica ty delivers the data the engineers and geologists rely on them until not too long ago the native population did not know about shift changes regular working hours and finishing times previously only few connects worked in the mines they did not have the necessary expertise most miners came from abroad since about 15 years ago the mine has belonged to the northern province for many connects this marked a significant change in their lives the profit is now there's not other people's the family is used to be poor today the mines secure a certain degree of prosperity but novel voila isn't semen today I see people who get involved people from my race who want to work they want to make it they want to achieve something Monday it motivates me to see that we have mineral resources for occur you know when I universe loves mean--yeah it is like a dream we didn't believe it Kalka shows today there is the mind here since it is attentive Enquirer kuiba may also be lamina little exists is the poem or talk Melanie and cannot Jean you do you pay if you don't focus now Circle K so the Pisco to topple shows the Canucks have a special relationship with nature people always stay connected to the land of their ancestors the ground provided food for their forebears it is thanks to them that they are here erricka ties family relies on the harvest it is too expensive to buy the vegetables in August tapioca is in season in New Caledonia like elsewhere in the tropics this starchy tuber is one of the staple foods Clara Eric a Thais wife is not part of his tribe she comes from one of the neighboring islands she and Eric speak to each other in French Clara does not understand go man Maithili manya we collected the tapioca first take the ones that appealed and then the others five hours drive and 300 kilometers further south the environmentalists are on their way to Goro one of the largest nickel mining areas is to be developed near the little village jacquimo moot and rick anacs have been to grow many times before they are fighting against this large project they have many meetings with Valenta ago they're one of the village elders hello Jackie can we talk to you for five minutes yes that's very nice of you let's go to the meeting house the environmentalists know that they are no longer able to stop the Canadian global corporation encode but they at least try to inform and to make demands many relationships to many foreign organizations and foundations of people who come here are dangerous for the country two years ago they came here and tried to force a number of things but they did not manage to do it no they want to come back two years later with different working methods so we must try to make sure given that they do exploit our mineral resources that they do it with our consent and that they not just simply get rich and leave us with a dirt pollution destruction death we must not allow that it is true people came here to enlighten us about things we ourselves we do not know what that is there are no graduates amongst us we don't have any people that are intelligent enough to decide this we were at the mercy of income they promised us the mind must work they will help the people with little projects it will help they will give money equally one up are you here today that people ask themselves is that good neighborliness always no ether usual the people are starting to ask themselves questions who thought he didn't perform it is pure poison that will spread out in the sea up to the muscles and fishes that we fish directly in front of us a few miles away brrk familiar the Canadian corporate group in Co will use chemicals to remove the nickel from the rock the French company SLN prefers water and a lot of energy of the two thousand three hundred tons of rock that passed the washing plan daily on average 53 tons of nickel remain [Music] step-by-step the concentration of nickel gets higher during washing and filtering [Music] [Music] female workers are preparing rock samples that are taken regularly at the various stages of production only a precise examination reveals something about the nickel content based on these analysis the experts decide where it is worth continuing to mine because of mining the nickel containing soil is washed all the way to the coast large parts of the mangrove woods have already suffocated in the mud Erica ty is not put off by that he continues to search for a very special treat Luna Kel when people talk about pollution then it is true that there is pollution only where the openings of the minds are so it's not solidified the power boil till the Minami lip I saw that fishes and crabs are not poisoned you can eat them as if there wasn't a mind six is a concealed amine exists epoxy some crabs are good we often come to this place to look for crabs for our dinner sit on one set on Oahu ye shall seek el Callado pond bolus laka [Applause] with a lot of skill and a little bit of luck Ericka time makes an excellent catch today he has managed to catch three large specimen enough for an ample meal it is not certain however for how long he will continue to find crabs here Lori's transport nickel ore and highly concentrated nickel soil from the mines to the landing stages by the sea the local mining company that Eric atai works for is not able to process the mind nickel ore and New Caledonia it does not own a melting furnace that is why it is initially loaded onto barges the small barges drag the cargo to the open sea their large cargo ships wait for them that cannot go over the reef to the harbor because the water level is too low the cargo ships take the nickel or to Australia Japan and even to the Ukraine where it is being melted [Music] the French society Elden AKEL has owned a nickel melting furnace in the capital of Nemea for almost 100 years it is in operation 24 hours a day nickel ore and nickel containing soil arrives there from the five mines and various concentrations to feed the furnaces the various ores are dried mixed and warmed up only then it is possible to ensure nickel production of a consistently high quality Electrical furnaces use high voltage and huge amounts of energy to heat the ores up to 1600 degrees once per hour the men tapped the furnace then a white stream of melted and glowing minerals flows [Music] in a first step substances that would contaminate the precious metal are partially separated from the nickel the light is slag separates from the metal the workers extract 110 kilograms of ira nickel from one tonne of all the iron nickel is not yet sufficiently clean to be sold there are different procedures depending on whether desired end product is iron nickel or pure nickel the main thing is however to get rid of contaminants which are still present after the initial boil apart from small amounts of silicon sulfur chromium and carbon the metal now consists of between 25 and 30 percent nickel the compound is now treated with a desulphurization agent this will lower the high temperatures one school down a nickel resinous precipitated at the end the individual pieces are only about two or three centimetres big and contain 1/3 to 1/4 nickel that is all there is left in the end the crabs are well rinsed with water Erica ty returned to his son and his wife with his catch what is a feast for others is an everyday occurrence for Erica Ty's family they eat crabs two or three times a week the crabs are good yes later we will eat with mom and dad will you eat with mum at weekends or on special occasions Clara cooks crabs in banana leaves she serves them with sweet potatoes yam bananas and a coconut sauce because for Eric the night will be over at 4 in the morning when he has to leave to start his shift in the mine today this simple version is served crabs on their own [Music] [Music] [Music] containers with tons of nickel resin leave New Caledonia and has shipped all over the world to America Asia and to Europe some of the nickel resin also ended up in boham in a twosome cockney hostile melting plant it is added to the scrap metal that fills the hall by the train and truckload the people are tiny in comparison but nonetheless they control the processes every half hour the electric arc furnace is filled with material in the 80 ton cages this is a place where elemental forces meet he glanced into the fire of the earth insights into processes that normally only take place deep below us the workers monitor the transformation with the help of oxygen nitrogen and other inert gases the nickel fuses with the scrap the shapeless mass is turned into an endless string the slab as it is called by steel workers is given the finishing touch heat is compressed and rolled protected against rust in the ravages of time stainless steel wafer-thin and supple ready to be shaped into washing machines cutlery sinks parts of cars to adorn civilization [Music] [Music]

Channel: Spark

Views: 441,750

Rating: 4.7442923 out of 5

Keywords: Spark, Science, Technology, Engineering, science documentary, science photography, science explained, science experiment, NICKEL mines, new caledonia, new caledonia mining, where is nickel, where is nickel ore subnautica, where is nickel from, how does nickel ore liquify, how does nickel form, life of a miner in 1800s, life of a coal miner, life of a nickel miner, nickel mining process, nickel mining documentary

Id: btS1rHIclL4

Length: 42min 34sec (2554 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 15 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/merdock1977]

I just watched this and thought I would share.