By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Nickel Investing News

Nickel started the New Year with a bang, gaining 50% of its value in just two and a half days. The metal, used primarily as a component of stainless steel, was joined by the other major commodities in a rapid rebalancing. Last Friday nickel hit a value unseen in weeks, and traded above USD 13,000 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.  This Wednesday, copper and aluminum hit one-month highs.

So why the sudden rebound?  The rapid ascent was due to the price index signaling that prices for the base metals and raw materials have bottomed out. At the same time, the Chinese government seized the opportunity and announced their intention to go on a buying spree for raw materials. Also, over in the US analysts believe that the US will have sharp recovery in 2009, initiated by the incoming administration’s economic stimulus plan.

An overlying optimistic tone and the new view on “risk taking” have sent purchases of commodities through the roof. December was one of the most active months ever on the LME for base metals trading.  However, other analysts remain pessimistic, stating that without a definite rebound in the stainless steel sector, nickel will be pulled back under. On Monday, nickel dropped 4.9 percent as China’s Jinchuan announced plans to boost output of the metal by almost 20 percent this year. Jinchuan said it expected to produce 125,000 tonnes of nickel this year from 104,600 tonnes in 2008. Three-month nickel futures traded at $12,550 after surging nearly 13 percent on Friday. On Wednesday, aggressive buying by traders surged nickel prices by 6.3 percent in futures trading, breaking two of its upper level limits set by the MCX.

Company News

Mirabela Nickel (TSX:MBN) said in a statement it was aiming for senior debt financing commitments for its wholly owned Santa Rita nickel project in Brazil by end of January 2009.  Mirabela Nickel Ltd owns 100% of the world class Santa Rita nickel sulphide project with a JORC Indicated open‐cut resource of 130mt grading 0.60% Ni for 780,000t of contained Ni. Santa Rita is the largest nickel sulphide discovery world‐wide in the last 12 years. Construction of a 6.4 mtpa nickel sulphide concentrator commenced in November 2007. Construction is now about 65% complete and the project remains on track to commence production mid 2009.

Victory Nickel Inc. has received a revised resource estimate for its 100%-owned Minago nickel deposit on Manitoba’s Thompson Nickel Belt. The revised resource estimate, prepared by Wardrop Engineering Ltd, represents a 2% increase in the amount of in-situ nickel metal in measured resources and a 14% increase in in-situ nickel metal in Indicated resources. Additional drilling is required in order to return tonnage at depth to the resource estimate given the new parameters used. Paul Jones, Vice-President, Exploration commented on the news, “We are currently considering exploration programs for 2009 to evaluate this potential, and are confident that additional drilling will bring mineralization at depth into the resource for underground mining which was projected in the PEA to begin in year eight.”  In addition, the Company has received preliminary indications that final capital costs for Minago will be considerably more than previously thought. The feasibility study is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2009.

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