French interests in the Indo-Pacific are New Caledonia, which China right now is pushing to declare independence for their own purposes.
As a Nickel geologist, that is simply not true.
Vale has withdrawn the Ni resource as it is an uneconomic laterite deposit. Meaning it is now zero.
To publish a mineral resource, it must have the possibility of being extracted and developed economically.
Even if New Caledonia were economic, and that can be switched back on, it would be less than 10% of global Ni reserves.
Australia has the largest volume of Ni 'resources'.
Russia have the biggest single undeveloped Ni 'resource' and will have for years to come given the nature of the Ni mineralisation at the Norilsk deposit.
China has much better Ni resources in it's own backyard than what is in New Caledonia.
Keep in mind that if a country says it has 10% of the world's reserves of a mineral, they may only have 1% as most companies don't publish total underground resources. Only the amounts they may plan to get in the next 5 years.
New Caledonia nickel is all surface resources.
