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Nickel Laterites

Without Indonesia’s Nickel, EVs Have No Future in America – by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (Foreign Policy – May 1, 2024)

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The IRA and Senate opposition to a free trade deal with Jakarta are undermining the United States’ green transition.

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is Indonesia’s coordinating minister of maritime and investment affairs.

Without Indonesian nickel, the United States’ electric vehicle market will flounder. My nation sits on the world’s largest reserves of the metal that is central to EV batteries. In 2023, Indonesia exported over half the world’s nickel products. In the coming years, this share is projected to grow.

Yet some members of the U.S. Congress, working together with Indonesia’s foreign competitors, have resolved to stymie the import of refined nickel from my country. So far, they are succeeding. But when taken together with measures passed in March compelling companies to shift away from selling gas-powered vehicles, it is ultimately U.S. auto workers who will lose out.

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US, Philippines Eye Partnership to Cut China’s Nickel Dominance – by Peter Martin and Jennifer Jacobs (Bloomberg News – April 30, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. and the Philippines are in discussions over ways to prevent China from dominating nickel processing in the Southeast Asian nation, a key supplier of the metal that’s crucial for electric vehicle batteries.

One measure under consideration is a trilateral arrangement through which the Philippines would supply raw nickel material, the U.S. would provide financing, and a third country such as Japan, South Korea or Australia would offer the technology required for smelting and refining, according to people familiar with the matter.

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First Quantum to shut Ravensthorpe nickel mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Northern Miner – April 29, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM) has decided to close its Ravensthorpe nickel operation in Western Australia. The ceasing of operations at the mine this week will cut around 330 jobs, Australia’s ABC News reported on Monday, citing a company statement.

“Despite our best efforts to maintain operations by transitioning to a new operating strategy that involved ceasing mining activities, processing stockpiles and altering its approach to production, the site is incurring significant current and projected losses,” First Quantum said in a separate statement.

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INSG’s latest forecasts cold comfort for nickel producers – by Andy Home (Reuters – April 25, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

London, April 25 (Reuters) – Nickel has rallied hard this month, clawing back some of the territory lost during its relentless price slide over the course of 2023. London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month nickel touched $19,775 per metric ton on Monday, the highest it has traded since September last year.

Last at $19,045 per ton, nickel is up by 15% since the start of the year, the third strongest performance after tin and copper. Sentiment has improved as low prices have exacted a rising toll on nickel producers. Multiple operators have closed or curtailed capacity due to the rapid rise of lower-cost Indonesian production.

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The nickel price crash and the road to recovery in Australia – by Annabel Cossins-Smith (Mining Technology – April 23, 2024)

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

Miners in Australia are feeling the brunt of the global nickel price crash, from mine closures to forecast reductions and government intervention. How did things get so bad and is recovery possible? Annabel Cossins-Smith investigates.

The global nickel market has been volatile for years now. The price rollercoaster of 2022 saw prices for the metal soar, plummet and then soar again in the space of eight months. This instability prompted the London Metal Exchange (LME) to suspend nickel trading altogether in March 2022, when global prices initially rallied more than 250% in one day, and later to begin “enhanced monitoring” of nickel to ensure trading activity was fair and to prevent market distortion.

More recently, the nickel market has experienced an unprecedented, drawn-out price slump that has put operations around the world – and particularly in Australia – in jeopardy. A significant oversupply of cheap, low-grade nickel pig iron (NPI) coming almost entirely from China and Indonesia, is the key cause of the price slump. Combined, the two countries produce around 70% of the world’s nickel. Indonesia alone accounted for roughly half of global production in 2023, which is expected to rise significantly by the end of the decade.

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Chinese Nickel Billionaire Boosts Australian Miner in Indonesia – by Eddie Spence and Alfred Cang (Bloomberg News – April 22, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A little-known Australian company is becoming the Western face of a Chinese nickel behemoth. In under a decade, Nickel Industries Ltd. has gone from a relatively small miner to the world’s sixth-biggest producer of a metal used in products from batteries to stainless steel.

Riding a Chinese-led boom in Indonesia’s nickel sector, it owns or has stakes in five plants in the country that churn out more of the commodity than household names like BHP Group Ltd.

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Indonesia’s grand ambition to become an EV leader rests on nickel mining boom – by Yvonne Lau (Canada’s National Observer – April 19, 2024)

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

The Kawasi people of Indonesia’s Obi Islands have long fished for tuna, red snapper and grouper, and grown coconut, cashew and clove trees. But some village residents say their land and water have been destroyed and the quality of life has plummeted in the years since Harita Nickel, the $5-billion arm of Indonesian conglomerate Harita Group, started mining, refining and processing nickel in their backyard.

“We lost our plantation land to grow crops for our survival and future generations. We lost the right to express our opinions. The water has become cloudy, with white foam coming out of the pipes. We see that the fish are dying. Residents are now being monitored for skin diseases, coughing and sore eyes,” according to 36-year-old Nurhayati Jumadi, a mother of two and lifelong resident of Kawasi village with about 4,500 people.

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New Sanctions on Russia to Drive Even More Metals Sales to China – by Alfred Cang (Bloomberg News – April 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

US and UK sanctions on Russian metals will cement China as Moscow’s buyer of last resort for key commodities, and enhance Shanghai’s role as a venue to set prices for materials crucial to the global economy.

The London Metal Exchange’s ban on newly produced Russian aluminum, copper and nickel is likely to drive Chinese imports even higher. It also leaves the Shanghai Futures Exchange as the only major commodities bourse in the world to accept Russian shipments of the three metals.

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Glencore-backed nickel miner fails to secure financing after rising costs – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – April 15, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Horizonte Minerals looking at sale of Brazilian nickel mine as investors fear Indonesia is flooding the market

Glencore-backed Horizonte Minerals has failed to secure financing to complete its nickel mine in Brazil following soaring costs and rising investor concern that Indonesia is flooding the market for the electric vehicle battery and steelmaking ingredient.

The London-listed group said in a statement on Monday that it was now exploring a sale, liquidation, or raising financing at the subsidiary level, following an 87 per cent increase in the estimated cost to build the Araguaia nickel mine, to more than $1bn.

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Japan, U.S., Philippines to strengthen nickel supply chains – by Takeru Tsuzuki and Hiroyuki Tanaka (Asia News Network – April 15, 2024)

 Asia News Network – Bringing Asia Closer

The three countries will accelerate the creation of a supply chain that is not overly dependent on China to bolster their economic security, with the Philippines being the world’s second-largest producer of nickel ore.

WASHINGTON – Japan, the United States and the Philippines agreed to forge ties to strengthen supply chains of nickel — a critical mineral essential for the batteries used in electric vehicles — at a trilateral summit at the White House on Thursday.

The Philippines is the world’s second-largest producer of nickel ore, and China is the second-largest producer of refined nickel. The three countries will accelerate the creation of a supply chain that is not overly dependent on China to bolster their economic security.

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Canada’s top soldier touts renewed Arctic strategy amid China and Russia’s push to deepen ties – by Robert Fife and Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – April 15, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A sharper focus on the Arctic in Ottawa’s defence policy is a strategic move welcomed by Western allies, Canada’s top soldier says, as Russia and China contest this increasingly pivotal region, where global warming is opening the Northern Sea Route to shipping and military manoeuvres.

General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff, acknowledged that the $8.1-billion over all committed by the government to defence spending over the next five years falls short of the NATO spending target of 2 per cent of annual economic output. Still, he says the new money will help a military long neglected by governments of various political stripes.

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Green Rush panel: Is there willingness to pay a premium for responsibly sourced minerals? (Kitco.com – April 9, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Environmental, social, governance (ESG) initiatives are further delaying mining projects while critical metals are in high demand, creating tension within the mining industry, says Matt Watson, founder of Precious Metals Commodity Management LLC.

The other problem is that metals necessary for the green transition are difficult to process, namely nickel, cobalt and rare earths. On April 3, Watson recorded an episode of Green Rush with guests James Gavilan, principal of Gavilan Commodities, and Lyle Trytten, president of Trytten Consulting Services. The subject was ESG in the context of scaling responsibly mined minerals.

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Violent clashes in New Caledonia as nickel pact exacerbates tensions – by Patrick Decloitre (Radio New Zealand – April 10, 2024)

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/

Fresh clashes erupted on Tuesday in the suburbs of Nouméa between security forces and pro-independence protesters who opposed a nickel pact, offering French assistance to salvage the industry. The clashes, involving firearms, teargas and stone-throwing, went on for most of Tuesday, blocking access roads to the capital Nouméa, as well as the small towns of Saint-Louis and Mont-Dore.

For most of Tuesday, traffic on the Route Provinciale 1 (RP1) was alternatively opened and closed several times, including when a squadron of French gendarmes intervened to secure the area with long-range shot teargas.

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Mining billionaire Forrest urges China to demand greener nickel – by Joe Leahy, Nic Fildes and A. Anantha Lakshmi (Financial Times – April 7, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Australian magnate points finger at ‘irresponsible’ standards for processing in Indonesia

Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has called on China to demand higher environmental standards from its global supply chain, particularly its companies conducting nickel processing in Indonesia, an industry he accused of “complete environmental irresponsibility”.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Forrest — the chair and largest shareholder of Fortescue Metals Group — said electric vehicle manufacturers should be wary of Indonesian nickel, which he said was being extracted at immense cost to the environment.

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Reckless mining oversight – by Editorial Board (Jakarta Post – April 8, 2024)

https://www.thejakartapost.com/

The government seems to care only about the revenue generated from the mineral sectors and ignores the environmental destruction and the plight of the people affected by the related industries.

A recent jaw-droppingly massive corruption case in the tin sector is yet another reminder that the government still lacks the capacity to manage the country’s vast natural resources.

The graft case occurred in the concession areas of state-owned miner PT Timah in Bangka Belitung, which holds the largest tin reserves in the country. The archipelagic province produces 90 percent of the country’s tin, which is mostly under the control of Timah.

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