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Nickel Laterites

Brazil’s Vale to pump $500 million into nickel mine, ends partner quest – by Rodrigo Campos (Reuters U.S. – December 4, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Brazilian miner Vale SA (VALE3.SA), the world’s top nickel producer, plans to invest $500 million in its struggling New Caledonia nickel mine on its own after previously vowing to find a partner for the venture.

Vale’s decision to invest in the project alone, from 2019 to 2022, reflects the company’s new understanding of the importance of an expected surge in electric vehicle (EV) sales, Chief Executive Fabio Schvartsman said on Tuesday.

“The decision to continue on our own was made because (New Caledonia) could be a very important part of strategy to supply nickel especially given the EV revolution,” he told journalists after Vale’s investor day presentation in New York. “We thought initially that we could have a partner but it was in a moment when we had no clarity on the incoming EV revolution.”

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Below $5: Slumping nickel prices should rebound in three or four months, analyst says – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – November 23, 2018)

https://www.sudbury.com/

‘We all know batteries for electric vehicles are going to be very important new demand source of nickel’

After surging this past spring by 75 per cent, nickel prices have sagged badly in recent weeks, and the price per pound dropped below $5 on Thursday.

The slump follows predictions of higher prices in 2018, a disappointment for an industry that has waited years to recover. It’s especially important in Greater Sudbury, where mining employs about 17,500 people directly or indirectly.

So what’s going on? Terry Ortslan, a nickel analyst at TSO and Associates in Montreal, said Thursday the industry is facing a double whammy that’s depressing prices. While the market for stainless steel wasn’t expected to drive the price, demand for the higher-grade nickel needed for electric car batteries has hit a few speed bumps.

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Vale ordered to compensate indigenous tribes in Brazil (Mining-Technology – November 20, 2018)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

A Brazilian court has ordered multinational metals and mining company Vale to pay compensation to two indigenous tribes living in the northern state of Pará for damaging the health of local people and the environment.

The court has also ordered the company to suspend its nickel-extracting operations in the region, Reuters reported.

As per the order, the company needs to fulfil certain environmental requirements and submit plans to mitigate and compensate indigenous peoples before resuming iron or nickel mining operations at its Onça Puma project, according to Brazil’s prosecutor-general’s office.

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Ni & Co CONFERENCE: Nine key takeaways from Xiamen – by Charlotte Radford, Susan Zou and Violet Li (Metal Bulletin – November 12, 2018)

https://www.metalbulletin.com/

The spotlight was in Xiamen last week when market participants gathered to discuss hot topics in the cobalt and nickel markets, including higher cobalt prices and their impact on the market in addition to new trends for the cobalt industry.

High prices do not hurt the overall use of cobalt in consumer electronics

Cobalt prices hit a near 10-year high in April, but the blue metal’s high prices will not lead to many cobalt substitutions in consumer electronics, according to battery manufacturer ATL’s procurement director, Xu Shihui.

Cobalt demand from the consumer electronics industry will continue to grow due to new trends, including the intact adoption of lithium-cobalt-oxide (LCO) batteries in laptops and smart phones.

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Sherritt International sees jump in nickel production and profit – by Amanda Stutt (Mining.com – November 12, 2018)

http://www.mining.com/

Sherritt International, (TSE: S) has released its 2018 Q3 report, and the numbers are up, thanks to the success of the company’s Moa joint venture (JV) with the Cuban Government.

Sherritt specializes in mining and refining of nickel and cobalt from lateritic ores, and the company also has projects and operations in Canada and Madagascar.

Pathe says the jump in numbers was largely due to higher realized nickel and cobalt prices. Cobalt is mined as a by-product of nickel, and acts as a stabilizing component in the lithium-ion battery cell structure. The average-reference price for nickel improved 26% from last year to $6.01/lb while the average-reference price for cobalt increased 22% to reach $35.21/lb.

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Nickel and No to Independence: New Caledonia Sticks to France – by Scott Tibballs (Nickel Investing News – November 6th, 2018)

Nickel Investment News

The French Territory of New Caledonia has voted to remain with the Fifth Republic, returning a 56 percent ‘no’ vote on becoming an independent state.
New Caledonia is the world’s third-largest nickel supplier with an annual output of 210,000 metric tonnes.

Mining and smelting is the backbone of the territories economy and would be the basis of the economy of a potentially future independent New Caledonia — a possibility still on the cards as the Noumea Accords signed in 1998 promised three referendums.

For the small pacific territory though, independence from Paris — which provides subsidies — would mean being exposed completely to the volatile nickel price, which has haunted miners in recent years.

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Brazilian Official: Mining Projects Are ‘National Priorities’ – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – November 5, 2018)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – While the world continues to react to the election of Brazilian populist president Jair Bolsonaro, some government officials don’t expect this to have much impact on the nation’s plan to develop its national resource.

In an exclusive interview with Kitco News ahead of the October runoff election, Pedro Bruno Barros De Souza, secretary of public policy coordination, said that the government’s Investment Partnership Program (IPP) is bigger than any one political leader. He added that the government, no matter who is in charge, is committed to developing the nation’s natural resources responsibly.

“Brazil has a lot of mineral potential and there are many opportunities for investors and companies who want to work with the government to develop those resources,” he said. “The Brazilian government has been working diligently on its governance to create a stable legal, regulatory framework, so investors will find a positive business environment.”

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New Caledonians vote down independence to stay part of France – by Charlotte Antoine (CTV News – November 4, 2018)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

The Associated Press – NOUMEA, New Caledonia – A majority of voters in the South Pacific territory of New Caledonia chose to remain part of France instead of backing independence Sunday, a watershed moment that led French President Emmanuel Macron to promise a full dialogue on the archipelago’s future.

Final results had 56.4 per cent of the voters who participated in the referendum deciding to maintain ties with the country that has ruled New Caledonia since the mid-19th century and 43.6 per cent supporting independence, the high commissioner’s office said.

“I’m asking everyone to turn toward the future to build tomorrow’s New Caledonia,” Macron said, speaking from the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris. “The spirit of dialogue is the sole winner.”

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COLUMN-China’s Tsingshan rains on nickel bulls’ party – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – October 30, 2018)

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Has nickel lost its electric buzz? Bull spirits had been galvanised by the potential boost to demand from the electric vehicle revolution. Nickel is expected to be one of the winners in the battle for more efficient batteries.

The price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange surged by 63 percent between October 2017 and April 2018, hitting a three-year high of $16,690 per tonne. It is now trading at $11,750.

Trade war anxiety has played its part in the price fall. But nickel has its own worries. Assumptions as to how both nickel’s price and supply chain would need to adapt to the new electric demand driver have just been upended.

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Battery Metal Bulls Fear China’s Big Disrupter to Hit Nickel – by Mark Burton and Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – October 28, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Commodity traders expect nickel, the silvery-white metal used to make stainless steel, to be a winner from the electric-vehicle revolution — it’s a key component of batteries.

But a Chinese metals giant with a knack of upending markets is threatening to spoil the party. Tsingshan Holding Group announced last month it’s building an Indonesian plant to produce nickel-cobalt salts for the battery market.

Transforming the Southeast Asian nation’s low-grade deposits into “class 1” metal — the equivalent of turning cheap table wine into a prized vintage — would disrupt the bullish narrative that’s helped shield nickel from a broader selloff in metal markets this year.

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Flow of LME nickel to hidden storage dents bull story – by Eric Onstad (Reuters U.K. – October 19, 2018)

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The bulk of nickel moving out of London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses in Asia is showing up in hidden facilities in Europe, analysts said, denting a bullish scenario of potential shortages.

LME nickel stocks have shrunk by about 40 percent this year, largely from warehouses in Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, but much of that metal is not being consumed, industry sources and analysts said.

Nickel is mainly used to make stainless steel, but forecasts show that more will be needed for electric vehicle batteries in coming years. It has been the LME’s top performer this year and prices were up 25 percent in June, before the wider market was hit by macroeconomic worries.

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Brazilian miner Vale will not chase big acquisitions – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – October 16, 2018)

https://www.ft.com/

Brazilian mining company Vale will deploy its cash wisely and “does not need” to chase big acquisitions because it has a big opportunity to grow organically in nickel.

Speaking at the FT Commodities Global Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, Vale chief executive Fabio Schvartsman said big dealmaking “adventures” were not on his agenda and any acquisitions would be small bolt on deals, probably in iron ore.

“We don’t need to do it given the potential of our nickel business,” he said. Although Vale is best known for its huge iron ore business, it is also the world’s biggest producer of nickel, a metal that will be needed in greater quantities as electric vehicles go mainstream.

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China battery firms set up $700 million nickel joint venture in Indonesia – by Tom Daly (Reuters U.S. – September 28, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese battery firm GEM Co Ltd on Friday said it was teaming up with four companies to invest a total of $700 million in a project to produce battery-grade nickel chemicals in Indonesia.

The investment comes as several global metals producers have also set their sights on Indonesia’s nickel reserves, looking to tap an expected surge in demand for the battery metal from the electric vehicle sector.

The companies joining GEM include units of top Chinese lithium battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) and stainless steel-maker Tsingshan Holding Group.

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Vale: Embracing The Electric Vehicle Revolution (Seeking Alpha – September 24, 2018)

https://seekingalpha.com/

Vale’s (VALE) iron ore operations have been by far the main driver of the company’s performance. Because of this, the Base Metals division tends to fly under the radar, despite Vale being the world’s largest producer of nickel.

However, Vale has big plans for its nickel and copper divisions, and the Brazilian company has identified the rise of electric vehicle and renewables as an important growth driver, especially in nickel. The main focus of this article will be the nickel developments, but we will also touch on copper. Both should help the Base Metals division contribute meaningfully to earnings from 2020.

Base Metals’ contribution is still modest, but rising

Investors can be forgiven for paying more attention to the Ferrous Minerals division, which includes iron ore and related metals. This segment is by far the main contributor to Vale’s performance. The company’s latest quarterly publication, for Q2 2018, confirms the weight of Ferrous Minerals:

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Silkroad Nickel inks heads of agreement for joint venture to build smelter facilities in Sulawesi – by Vivien Shiao (Business Times – September 19, 2018)

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/

CATALIST-LISTED Indonesian nickel mining group Silkroad Nickel announced that its subsidiary PT Teknik Alum Service (PT TAS), and PT Artabumi Sentra Industri (PT ASI) have entered into a non-binding heads of agreement with PT Anugrah Tambang Smelter for its entire equity interest.

Through the acquisition, it aims to build and operate smelter facilities for the production of nickel pig iron on the group’s mine site in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

PT Anugrah Tambang Smelter, a limited liability company established under Indonesian law, holds valid principle and location permit licences for the construction of a smelter factory in Buleleng Village, Bungku Pesisir Subdistrict, Morowali Regency, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

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