Nickel APEX Mineral

Nickel (Ni #28) is the next element on the periodic table for my APEX mineral collection. 

Wikipedia Nickel

Nickel Minerals - There are lots of Nickel minerals.

Millerite (NiS) with 65% Nickel is my APEX Mineral.  Pretty cool looking stuff.  Pure Nickel does exist in some rare cases in small amounts.

Most Nickel is refined into pure metal.

The US nickel coin contains over 6 cents of Nickel and Copper.  If you try to melt coins for metal value you can be fined $10,000.

Nickel alloy meteorites have been used since at least 3500 BC.  Nickel is always found in combination with iron, a reflection of those elements' origin as major end products of supernova nucleosynthesis.

Most Nickel is used in the production of Nickel-steels. 

Enzymes of some microorganisms and plants contain nickel as an active site, which makes the metal an essential nutrient for them.