Bio leaching is no solution for the nickel ores in the ROF. It may be a dream for a few, but bio leaching has been tested for certain copper and nickel sulfide ores, but generally do not meet any satisfactory standards.

It is pretty clear, the nickel ores in the ROF will go through milling and floatation to produce a nickel concentrate that will be shipped to a smelter. Vale Inco's nickel concentrate from Voisey's Bay will instead go to a hydrometallurigcal plant and not a smelter. They can get away with that because the Voisey's Bay ore contains very little platinum and precious metals, which can not efficiently be recovered in such a process. Due to the high PGM's in the ROF nickel ores, they are very important economically and there is no other choice but treating the concentrates in a smelter followed by a refinery.