“…Nickel was discovered early in the colonial period with exports starting in 1874, setting the direction of New Caledonia's economic and political life to the present day. The mining industry is dominated by three large companies that operate their own refineries: Société Le Nickel (SLN), founded in 1880 (Newbury 1955) and now a subsidiary of the French mining and metallurgical multinational group Eramet; Goro‐Nickel, until 2020 Vale New Caledonia SAS (Vale NC), a subsidiary of the Brazilian energy and mining group Vale SA; and Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) operated by the Société Minière du Pacifique Sud (SMSP), owned by the pro‐independence North Province, and the Anglo‐Swiss Glencore. Some 20 or more second line and independent companies, which are only engaged in extraction and do not do their own refining, operate across the territory and are known as ‘small miners’ ( petits mineurs ) – even though some are themselves well capitalized, hold large concessions, and directly export nickel (Bouard et al 2018; Demmer 2017a).…”