Nickel Mining Stocks: Who Mines What, With Output Data

Nickel mining stocks at a glance

Among nickel mining stocks with a published 2025 figure, Nornickel made the most metal at 198,521 tonnes, followed by Vale at 177,200 tonnes (Reuters via Kitco, January 2026; Vale production report, Q4 2025). The bigger story for a shareholder is Indonesia, which mined about two-thirds of the world’s nickel in 2025, according to the US Geological Survey.

This page sets out who owns what, how much each company produced, which names have changed status, and what to check in a filing. It gives facts and rates no share as a purchase. Nickel is priced per metric tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME), so output in this article is in tonnes of contained nickel unless stated.

The LME cash settlement was US$15,465 per tonne on 4 November 2026, with the three-month price at US$15,675 and exchange stocks at 275,592 tonnes (Westmetall, LME data).

Nickel mining companies ranked output

How we chose. The metric is nickel produced in calendar 2025, taken from each company’s own report or a news report of it. The table includes every listed company for which we opened such a figure. Bases differ, and the “Basis” column says how. Finished metal and mined nickel are not the same thing, so treat close positions as approximate. Listed Indonesian and Chinese groups appear in a separate section below because their figures use other reporting bases.

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Nickel output reported for 2025, by company

Thousand tonnes of nickel; bases differ, see table

RKEF means rotary kiln electric furnace, the common route for turning laterite ore into nickel pig iron. Laterite is weathered, near-surface nickel ore. Sulphide ore is the hard-rock type mined at Sudbury and Norilsk.

What each nickel company gives a shareholder

Nornickel

Best described as: the largest figure on this list, but hard for many Western investors to reach. It made 198,521 tonnes in 2025, down 3%, and guided to 193,000 to 203,000 tonnes for 2026. Reuters reports the company blames ore depletion and a forced switch of mining equipment under Western sanctions, and it expects recovery in 2028. Watch: sanctions rules in your own country, and how your broker treats a Moscow listing.

Vale

Best described as: a large nickel business inside an iron ore company. Vale produced 177,200 tonnes in 2025, its highest since 2022, and guided to 175,000 to 200,000 tonnes for 2026. PT Vale Indonesia contributed 54,700 tonnes of that total. Its average realized nickel price fell 8.9% to US$15,556 per tonne in 2025 (Vale, Q4 2025). Watch: iron ore drives the group, so the share may not follow nickel closely.

Nickel Industries

Best described as: an ASX-listed route into Indonesian processing. It holds 80% of four RKEF projects, with 2025 production of 16,590 tonnes at Hengjaya, 16,635 at Ranger, 46,429 at Angel and 45,687 at Oracle. It also holds 10% of the Huayue HPAL project and 46% of Excelsior (Nickel Industries, operations page). HPAL, high-pressure acid leaching, dissolves laterite to make battery feed. Watch: attributable output is lower than the 100% total, at about 100,000 tonnes for the RKEF plants.

Glencore

Best described as: a diversified miner and trader in which nickel is a small part. It produced 71,900 tonnes in 2025 and 35,800 tonnes in the first half of 2026, with 2026 guidance unchanged at 70,000 to 80,000 tonnes (Glencore half-year production report, 2026). Watch: copper, coal and trading results can outweigh nickel.

Anglo American

Best described as: a seller, not a long-term nickel holding. It produced 39,700 tonnes in 2025 (Anglo American results) and agreed to sell its Brazilian nickel business to MMG. In its October 2026 report, MMG said the European Commission review was the last approval still needed, and that Anglo intends to place the assets into care and maintenance if the deal is not approved (MMG third-quarter report, 2026). Watch: the Commission’s decision.

Talon Metals

Best described as: the listed US nickel name. Talon completed its purchase of the Eagle mine and Humboldt mill from Lundin Mining in January 2026 (Mining Gazette), leaving Lundin with about 20% of Talon (Mining.com). Eagle made 9,907 tonnes in 2025 under Lundin (Lundin Mining). Talon also advances the Tamarack project in Minnesota. Watch: older lists may still show Lundin as Eagle’s owner.

Best nickel stocks in Indonesia and other listed names

These companies have nickel exposure but sit outside the ranking above, because we did not open a directly comparable 2025 tonnage for each. The descriptions come from their listing profiles.

Eramet shows how exposed these businesses are to Indonesian rules. Its adjusted nickel EBITDA, a measure of operating earnings, fell 64% to €95 million in 2025. It also targeted 9 million wet tonnes of external ore sales for 2026, based on an initial mining quota of 12 million wet tonnes, and planned to ask for more (Eramet results, February 2026).

Which nickel stocks have changed status

Lists of top nickel stocks age quickly. These changes matter most.

• BHP: Nickel West has been in care and maintenance since late 2024, and a review is due by February 2027 (ABC News, August 2026). BHP is not a current nickel producer on that basis.
• Sherritt: it suspended direct participation in its Cuban joint ventures after a US executive order of 1 May 2026. Refinery feed ran out on 22 June, and mining at Moa stopped near the end of that quarter (Sherritt Q2 2026 report). It later dropped a plan to dissolve the venture (Mining.com, May 2026).
• IGO: Nova’s mine life is expected to end during the December quarter of 2026, and IGO plans to move it to new ownership (IGO Annual Report, 2026).
• South32: it completed the sale of Cerro Matoso in Colombia on 1 December 2025 (South32 annual report, 2026), so it no longer belongs on a list of nickel producers.
• Lundin Mining: it exited direct nickel mining when Eagle went to Talon, though it keeps its Talon stake as described above.

Nickel exploration companies and developers

Developers have no mine revenue. Their value rests on studies, permits and funding, so new share issues are common. Study figures below are the companies’ own and are not production results.

Sources: Canada Nickel, FPX Nickel, Centaurus Metals, Ardea Resources and Lifezone Metals.

A study is not a mine. When you read one, note the price assumption, the recovery and the capital cost, and compare the price with the LME figure above. Consultants and licence holders doing early-stage work can screen ground with satellite mineral detection before drilling, which gives exploration targets, not a resource estimate. If you hold a licence, you can ask for a quote or contact the team.

▶ The limits of satellite exploration in mining due diligence. · 2:08

What moves nickel mining stocks

Indonesian supply

USGS estimates world mine output at 3.9 million tonnes in 2025, with Indonesia at 2.6 million tonnes, up from 2.31 million in 2024. Australia fell from 98,000 to 45,000 tonnes over the same period. Indonesia also holds 62 million of the world’s more than 140 million tonnes of reserves. New capacity keeps arriving: Argus projected Indonesian mixed hydroxide precipitate output of 482,000 tonnes of contained nickel in 2025, almost 50% up on the year, and warned that further growth could weigh on prices (Argus, December 2025).

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Primary nickel market surplus

Thousand tonnes per year

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LME nickel cash price, annual average

US$ per metric tonne; 2025 is a USGS estimate

Surplus and price

The market has been in surplus since 2022, according to International Nickel Study Group figures cited by USGS. The LME cash average fell from US$25,815 per tonne in 2022 to an estimated US$15,000 in 2025. For a high-cost mine, that gap can decide whether it stays open: Western Australia’s digest describes much of its local nickel industry as uncompetitive and notes the suspension of BHP’s nickel business (WA Statistics Digest 2024-25).

Demand

Stainless steel is the largest use. Eramet puts primary nickel demand at 3.5 million tonnes in 2025, up 4%, against production of 3.7 million tonnes, with stainless steel taking about 65% of demand. Battery demand matters more for HPAL and sulfate producers than for pig iron plants.

How to compare nickel stocks

1. Find the nickel share of revenue. For Vale and Glencore it is one product among many. For Nickel Industries, it is the core of the business.
2. Check the product. Class 1 nickel is high-purity metal. Pig iron and ferronickel go to stainless steel. Mixed hydroxide precipitate and sulfate go to batteries. Prices and premiums differ.
3. Read the output basis. A 100% figure can overstate what shareholders own. Use the attributable figure where one is published.
4. Find the cost position. Look for cash cost per tonne after by-product credits, such as cobalt or copper.
5. Weigh country risk. Quotas in Indonesia, sanctions on Russia and Cuba, and permits in North America have all changed output or ownership.
6. Check funding. Developers need capital, so look at cash, debt and the likely share issues needed before a mine is built.
7. Confirm status in the latest filing. Use SEDAR+, SEC EDGAR, ASX or the company’s site, since this sector has seen frequent sales and closures.

▶ A short look at Farmonaut Mining Pro, shown with de-identified demo data. · 4:56

Nickel price sensitivity for a producer

A price move hits margin far harder than revenue when costs are close to the price. Use the calculator below with a company’s reported output and cost to see the effect, then compare the result with its filing. It is a rough model and ignores tax, royalties and capital spending.

Nickel mining companies in the USA

USGS estimates that the Eagle mine in Michigan produced about 10,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate in 2025, exported to smelters in Canada and overseas. The US relied on imports for 41% of apparent consumption. USGS also reports nickel-bearing projects under consideration in Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Oregon, and three companies considering or developing refineries in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. The last US primary nickel refinery closed in 1985. Readers comparing battery-metal supply can also see our guide to electric car battery mines, and those following by-product metals can read about palladium mining stocks. For a similar output-based list in another metal, see the largest copper producers.

▶ How mining feeds exports, jobs and energy-transition minerals. · 5:03

Frequently asked questions

What are the top nickel mining stocks?

By the 2025 figures on this page, the largest are Nornickel, Vale, Nickel Industries (on a 100% basis) and Glencore. Size is not a measure of investment merit, and access to Nornickel is limited for many investors.

Who is the biggest nickel producer in the world?

Among companies with figures checked here, Nornickel reported the most for 2025 at 198,521 tonnes, ahead of Vale at 177,200 tonnes. Large private and unranked Indonesian and Chinese groups are outside this comparison.

Which mining companies offer the strongest investment case in nickel?

This page does not rank investment cases. Compare nickel share of revenue, cost position, product type, country risk and debt, and speak to a licensed adviser.

Is BHP still a nickel stock?

BHP owns Nickel West, but the operation has been in care and maintenance since late 2024, and its review is due by February 2027.

Which nickel stocks trade in the US?

Vale (VALE), BHP (BHP) and Lifezone Metals (LZM) are on the NYSE. FPX Nickel and Centaurus Metals also trade over the counter as FPOCF and CTTZF.

Are there nickel mining companies in the USA?

Talon Metals, listed in Toronto, now owns the Eagle mine in Michigan, which Lundin Mining called the only primary nickel mine operating in the US when it agreed the sale in December 2025.

Which companies mine for nickel sulfate?

Nickel sulfate is a processed chemical and is not mined directly. Trimegah Bangun Persada lists it among its products, and HPAL plants, such as those held in part by Nickel Industries, make the battery feed used to produce it.

Who are the most sustainable nickel and copper producers?

No single official ranking exists. Compare published emissions per tonne, tailings disclosures and safety records in each sustainability report, and note that scoring methods differ between rating firms.

Why are nickel stocks so sensitive to Indonesia?

Indonesia mined about two-thirds of world output in 2025 (USGS), so its quotas and new plants can shift the global price and the margins of mines elsewhere.

What is the difference between a nickel producer and a developer?

A producer has output and revenue today. A developer such as Canada Nickel or FPX Nickel has a project and studies, and it depends on permits and funding to build a mine.