In addition to copper-nickel mineralization, pyrite-pyrrhotite mineralization is widespread in the Monchegorsk region, and prospecting geologists often have to solve the question of the relationship between pyrite-pyrrhotite mineralization and copper-nickel mineralization. Until recently, most of the identified pyrite-pyrrhotite ore bodies were traced by mining and drilling operations in the hope of a possible transition of pyrite-pyrrhotite mineralization into copper-nickel mineralization, but not a single case of such a transition has been established.

One of the most promising criteria of nickel bearing capacity of basic-ultrabasic massifs is naturally considered to be the content of nickel, the main component of copper-nickel ores, in non-ore rocks. The main difficulty in applying this criterion is the unevenness of the background nickel content, which in the series of basic-ultrabasic rocks increases from the most acidic representatives of the series to the most basic ones. This phenomenon was first taken into account by D. V. Polferov.