Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence

Nickel Sulphate Plant Comes to Oz

BHP is not done making moves in the nickel sector this year. It has now officially kicked off production at Australia’s first nickel sulphate plant. The new facility, located in Kwinana just outside Perth, has begun churning out its first nickel sulphate crystals. Timing, as ever, is all important and BHP must be feeling pleased with itself because demand projections for battery-grade nickel are impressive. BHP itself says nickel demand from the EV sector could push past 500% over the next decade.

If you’ve read some of my pieces in mining.com and The Northern Miner, nickel sulphate is a high-margin product used in EV battery cathodes and BHP’s new Kwinana refinery is now equipped to produce 100,000 tonnes of it annually.

The company has stated that it is “building out the infrastructure and capability to meet future demand and support global decarbonization.” Unsurprisingly, Western Australia’s government is all for it, with . State Development Minister Roger Cook pointing out that WA is sitting on some of the world’s best nickel sulphide deposits.

I agree but the Aussies have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to their global standing in nickel production. Admittedly, WA is currently the fourth-largest nickel producer in the world, and its industry brought in over A$3.3 billion in sales in 2020, but compared to Indonesia (which is making plenty of moves of its own and attracting a lot of nickel sector investment) and the Phillipines, Australia has a long way to go.

Still, with battery demand growing quarter on quarter, and supply chains clearly under a lot of pressure, BHP is smart to be betting big on nickel.

Anthony Milewski

Chairman, Nickel 28 Capital

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