The passage of chloroform vapour in a carrier of oxygen through two nickel sulphide ores heated to 380C converted the nickel to the water soluble chloride form. In one ore the nickel (275 per cent) was presentas violarite ((Ni, Fe)3S4) whereas in the second it was present as pentlandite, ((Fe, Ni)9S8) (49 per cent Ni).A similar technique was utilized to convert nickel in nickeliferous laterites (16 per cent Ni) into a soluble chloride using town gas instead of oxygen as a carrier.With both techniques greater than 90 per cent extraction was achieved.