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Le projet de la première usine tanzanienne de nickel avance malgré la baisse des prix

Agence Ecofin 16 juin 2024

Lifezone Metals, société cotée à la Bourse de New York, développe en Tanzanie le projet Kabanga, une exploitation verticalement intégrée axée sur le nickel et comprenant une raffinerie dédiée. Dans un contexte de baisse des prix, elle poursuit ses efforts pour faire avancer le projet.

Sur le London Metal Exchange, le prix à terme du nickel se négocie actuellement à 15 120 USD la tonne, en baisse d’environ 68% par rapport au pic annuel de 48 000 USD de 2022. Cette tendance baissière notamment liée à l’excédent de l’offre mondiale du métal a déjà incité des sociétés comme BHP et First Quantum à suspendre leurs opérations de nickel en Australie en 2024. De son côté, Lifezone Metals cherche plutôt à faire avancer son projet Kabanga, lequel devrait fournir à terme la première raffinerie de nickel de la Tanzanie.

« Le marché du nickel a été confronté à des défis importants en raison de la domination de l'Indonésie sur l'offre, ce qui a eu un impact sur les prix et a nécessité une refonte de nos plans de développement pour Kabanga » a déclaré plus tôt ce mois-ci Chris Showalter, PDG de Lifezone Metals.

La compagnie élabore actuellement une nouvelle étude de faisabilité définitive axée sur un plan minier de 22 ans. Ce dernier prévoit notamment le développement de la raffinerie au cours des cinq premières années d’exploitation de la mine de nickel associée, dont la production devrait être exportée sous la forme de concentré durant cette période. Une fois opérationnelle, la raffinerie de Kabanga devrait être en mesure de produire 50 000 tonnes de sulfate de nickel par an, ainsi que des cathodes de cuivre et du sulfate de cobalt dans une moindre mesure.

Selon les détails fournis par Lifezone le lundi 2 juin, la mine Kabanga devrait alimenter la raffinerie avec une production totale de 1,15 million de tonnes de nickel au cours des 22 ans. Le coût d’investissement initial du projet, mine et raffinerie comprises, est évalué à 991 millions USD, avec notamment un prix du nickel de 8,49 USD la livre (soit environ 18 000 USD/t). Le taux de rendement interne (TRI) après impôts est de 22,9%, et la valeur actuelle nette (VAN) après impôts s’élève à 2,37 milliards USD.

Avec cette approche, Lifezone entend développer le projet tout en respectant son « engagement en faveur d’un développement responsable et de la création de valeur à long terme ». À l’instar de plusieurs pays africains, la Tanzanie mène en effet une politique minière axée sur la valorisation de ses ressources minérales. En avril 2024, le gouvernement avait annoncé qu’il ne délivrerait de licences qu’aux investisseurs prêts à proposer des plans complets intégrant la transformation locale des minéraux exploités. Une exigence à laquelle la raffinerie de nickel de Kabanga pourrait ainsi répondre, si le plan minier actuellement à l’étude se concrétise.

Lifezone envisage de publier en juillet prochain un résumé de l’étude de faisabilité définitive du projet. Un document dans lequel pourraient figurer d’autres détails importants, dont le calendrier de mise en œuvre. Une autre problématique à suivre de près concerne les stratégies que la compagnie prévoit d’adopter pour faire face au marché baissier du nickel, alors que l’excédent pourrait se prolonger au cours des prochaines années avec le lancement attendu de nouveaux projets en Indonésie.

Pour rappel, le gouvernement tanzanien détient une participation de 16% dans le projet Kabanga. Lifezone Metals et BHP complètent l’actionnariat avec des parts respectives de 69,7% et 14,3%.

TALON METALS MAKES SECOND HISTORIC DISCOVERY IN A MONTH AT TAMARACK: 34.9 METERS OF MASSIVE NICKEL MINERALIZATION INTERCEPTED IN A NEW ZONE
May 12, 2025

Talon Metals shares rise on massive sulphide discovery at Tamarack project

Staff Writer | March 27, 2025

Talon Metals (TSX: TLO) has made a massive sulphide discovery at its Tamarack project in central Minnesota that it says could represent a significant extension to the existing nickel-copper-cobalt resource. Its shares surged on the announcement.


In a press release late Wednesday, the company said it has been infilling the Tamarack resource area as it looks to complete a feasibility study in support project’s environmental permitting process. During this work, the exploration team re-examined and extended a historic drill hole which encountered significant mineralization at a depth of 707.75 metres, drilling 8.25 metres that was logged as 95% sulphide content.

This represents the second significant discovery by Talon’s team in the space of five months. In October, the battery metals explorer announced the Boulderdash copper and nickel discovery in the nearby state of Michigan.

Shares of Talon Metals closed Thursday’s trading session 23.5% higher at C$0.10 apiece, for a market capitalization of C$92.6 million ($64.7m).

The new discovery at Tamarack is situated approximately 150 metres below and 50 metres south of the known nickel-copper mineralization within the current resource area, where a drill hole previously intercepted 7.74 metres of massive sulphide assaying 8.01% nickel and 2.87% copper.

The location, as the Talon team points out, is significant, as it could be a laterally extensive area with a lack of drilling, and may even host some of the highest-grade nickel and copper mineralization discovered to date at Tamarack.

Timely discovery
The Canadian miner also cheered the timing of its new discovery, as it comes days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to boost domestic production of critical minerals.

“Talon is uniquely positioned to respond – we operate the only integrated geophysics and drilling team in the United States dedicated to finding new sources of domestic nickel, copper and cobalt,”Talon CEO Henri van Rooyen said in a press release.

According to Talon’s chief exploration officer Brian Goldner, the mineralization model for Tamarack is that “the nickel mineralization was draining down through the intrusive system and pooled up at the bottom of the massive sulphide” near the previous intercept.

“This type of pooling is also seen at the world’s most prolific high-grade nickel producer, in Norilsk, Russia, once again showing similarities that Tamarack shares with the global giants,” Goldner added.

Following the discovery, Talon has advanced towards follow-up drilling after an EM survey conducted on the extension of the discovery hole identified a strong off-hole conductor.

The Tamarack project currently hosts a mineral resource of 8.6 million tonnes grading 1.73% nickel and 0.92% copper in the indicated category and 8.5 million tonnes grading 0.83% nickel and 0.55% copper in the inferred category.

First Atlantic Nickel shares soar on new discovery

Staff Writer | February 27, 2025


The Atlantic nickel project is located 40 km from Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland. Credit: First Atlantic Nickel

First Atlantic Nickel (TSXV: FAN) soared to its highest in over two years after a new high-grade discovery was made at the company’s district-scale project in central Newfoundland.


The drilling occurred at the Super Gulp zone of the Atlantic nickel project, with a total of five holes completed during the initial phase. The first hole returned assays as high as 0.32% nickel and 0.8% chromium, averaging 0.25% nickel and 0.28% chromium over the entire 293.8-metre length.

Shares of the Canadian junior surged 20% at Wednesday’s market close following the results, giving it a market capitalization of C$26.8 million. During the session, the stock hit a new 52-week high of C$0.34, compared to a low of C$0.075.

The discovery hole — located 16 km south of the Atlantic Lake zone and 10 km north of the RPM zone — confirms the continuous awaruite nickel mineralization within the company’s district-scale 30-km trend, First Atlantic said in a news release Wednesday.

The company noted that the Super Gulp hole significantly exceeded the average depth of historical drilling in the Atlantic Lake zone, which had 0.22% nickel over its entire 87.15-metre length.

To test what it believes to be a new major nickel zone within the 30-km trend, First Atlantic is set to begin a second phase of drilling at Super Gulp while it awaits the remaining drill results from Phase 1.

Alongside drilling, the company is also conducting a metallurgical test on the awaruite-style mineralization to quantify the amount of magnetically recoverable nickel and evaluate the project’s suitability for magnetic separation as a commercial processing method.

Merdeka Battery gets $1.4 billion loan for new nickel plant

Bloomberg News | February 25, 2025

Nickel producer PT Merdeka Battery Materials has obtained a $1.4 billion loan to fund the construction of a plant located on Sulawesi island, according to a company statement.


Bangkok Bank PCL, PT Bank Permata, PT Bank Mandiri, PT Bank Negara Indonesia and PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia provided the seven-year senior secured and non-recourse loan, according to the statement.

PT Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt is the borrower of the facility, the proceeds of which will finance the construction of a high-pressure acid leach plant located within the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, the statement showed. Such processing plants will produce nickel or cobalt chemicals used for EV batteries.

The construction of the plant comes at a time when the nickel industry is grappling with weak prices and tight supply of ores in Indonesia. The Southeast Asian country now accounts for more than half of world’s nickel output and has been aggressively wooing investment for its domestic processing industry.

A subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. will manage the construction of the new HPAL plant, according to the statement. The project has a total investment of approximately $1.8 billion, with a construction time of 18 months starting January. It will have an annual capacity of 90,000 tons a year.

Merdeka Battery indirectly owns stakes in Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt via its subsidiary PT Merdeka Energi Baru, which controls 50.1% in the nickel firm, according to the statement.

Indonésie : un producteur de nickel va investir 1,8 milliard de dollars dans une usine de raffinage

AFP le 26 février 2025

Un producteur indonésien de nickel va investir 1,8 milliard de dollars dans la construction d'une usine alors que la première économie d'Asie du Sud-Est cherche à valoriser sa production de minerais et métaux.

Plus grandes réserves mondiales de nickel

La société PT Merdeka Battery Materials a annoncé cette semaine avoir signé des accords pour la construction d'une usine pour extraire et traiter le nickel et le cobalt sur l'île de Sulawesi (Célèbes).

L'Indonésie détient les plus grandes réserves mondiales de nickel mais ne possède que des activités industrielles limitées dans le processus de raffinage, ce que le gouvernement tente de faire évoluer.

Financée par un prêt de 1,4 milliard de dollars US (1,33 milliard d'euros), la construction de l'usine débutera en janvier prochain et doit durer 18 mois. L'usine sera construite dans le parc industriel de Morowali, l'un des plus grands centres de production de nickel d'Asie du Sud-Est.

Investissements massifs de la Chine

En 2023, des centaines de travailleurs indonésiens avaient manifesté contre les conditions de travail dans une usine de transformation de nickel financée par la Chine, située dans le même parc industriel, après une explosion qui avait fait 18 morts.

La Chine investit massivement dans cette région riche en nickel, un métal de base utilisé dans les batteries des véhicules électriques et dans l'acier inoxydable.

L'exploitation du nickel est associée à la déforestation, selon des mouvements de protection de la nature et à des violations des droits de certaines communautés autochtones qui voient leur territoire ancestral amputé.

Indonesia sets 2025 nickel ore mining quota at around 200 million tonnes

Reuters | January 10, 2025

Indonesia has set a quota of around 200 million metric tons for nickel ore mining this year, a senior mining ministry official said on Friday, adding this could be cut if miners failed to comply with environmental and other rules.


“We have issued around 200 million tons. But if based on their performance evaluation, especially post-mining reclamation and environmental management (not meeting government requirements), we will cut,” said Tri Winarno, director general of mineral and coal at the ministry.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said last week that the Southeast Asian country, one of the world’s biggest producers of nickel products, was reviewing its annual nickel ore mining quota, seeking to prevent further price falls.

The country’s nickel ore output last year was 215 million tons, Tri said.

The government said in November it might punish violations of environmental and other regulations by cutting quotas.

Indonesia last year approved annual nickel ore mining quotas of 240 million metric tons each year until 2026. Bloomberg News reported in December that authorities were considering cutting the quota to 150 million tons to support prices.

LME nickel hits four-year low as 2025 opens with eyes on China

Bloomberg News | January 2, 2025

Nickel hit the lowest level since 2020 and copper steadied near a nine-month low on the first trading day of the year, with investors weighing the impact of a rallying dollar and the scope for additional Chinese stimulus.


Prices for nickel, used in stainless steel and batteries, dropped towards $15,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, as the dollar added pressure on industrial metals toward the end of the trading day.

The greenback’s rally came as a weekly reading of US jobless claims dropped to an eight-month low, signaling the ongoing resilience of the nation’s economy. A stronger dollar could hurt buying power for manufacturers in countries like China, where there are already worries about the strength of metals demand.

For the year to come, the market is focused on whether there will be a recovery in China’s embattled property sector, a key demand pillar for metals, as well as the potential impact of trade frictions from Donald Trump’s US presidency. Officials have pledged to use greater public borrowing and spending as well as monetary easing to spur growth in 2025.

Investors are “waiting to see if and when Chinese support measures will feed their way into metals markets in the form of stronger demand,” said Ewa Manthey, a commodities strategist at ING, said by email. “Trump’s tariffs could also trigger bigger stimulus from China, capping the downside for copper prices this year.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged new challenges from the external environment in a New Year’s Eve speech on Tuesday. Earlier that day, he said China is on track to meet its official growth target of about 5% for 2024 and the economy is “overall stable.”

The LMEX Index of six metals on the London Metal Exchange closed out 2024 with a modest gain of about 4%, as softer Chinese demand was offset by flashes of supply stress on falling inventories and mine supply shortages.

Nickel was 1.6% lower at $15,090 a ton as of 4:48 p.m. local time on the LME, after earlier hitting $15,055 a ton, the lowest level since November 2020. Copper was 0.4% higher at $8,801.50 a ton, having closed out 2024 at a nine-month low.

Brazilian Nickel advances project financing with LOI for $550m

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Brazilian Nickel announced on Monday that it has received a letter of interest (LOI) from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for a $550 million loan for its Piauí nickel project in Brazil.

Piauí is an advanced-stage nickel laterite heap-leach project with a mineral reserve of 99 million tonnes at grades of 0.84% nickel and 0.05% cobalt. It began production in 2022 at an average production rate of 27,000 tonnes of nickel and 900 tonnes of cobalt per year during the first 10 years of operation.

Brazilian Nickel unveils plans to invest US$1.2bn in Piauí project

Published: Wednesday, August 09, 2023

Brazilian Nickel (BRN) announced details of a 6bn-real (US$1.2bn) investment plan to develop a nickel and cobalt project in Piauí state.

The new unit would produce 25,000t/y of the metal per year, starting in 2026, in addition to 800t/y of cobalt, as from 2027.

The company currently produces 600t of nickel per month at its unit in Capitão Gervásio Oliveira, also in Piauí.

Representatives of Piauí Níquel Metais (PNM), the local subsidiary of BRN Brazilian Nickel, held a meeting this week with Piauí government officials to present details of the project.

“This will change the reality of the region and will put Piauí in the modern mining circuit, all in a sustainable way. A series of requirements and protocols are being looked at by all secretariats so that we can contribute to this growth and the people of Piauí will be the main beneficiaries, with more jobs and income," Piauí state governor Rafael Fonteles said in a statement.

The company has around 400 workers at its operations, but the new investments will probably create more than 2,000 direct jobs during the construction phase of the new unit, in addition to 800 new employees during the operating phase.

Premium Resources shares jump on Botswana copper-nickel project initial resource

Blair McBride - The Northern Miner | November 27, 2024

An initial estimate for Premium Resources’ (TSXV: PREM) past-producing Selkirk project in eastern Botswana outlines 44.2 million inferred tonnes grading 0.3% copper and 0.24% nickel, the company reported Wednesday. Shares gained 11.5%. The resource also includes 0.55 gram palladium per...

abonnés

Indonesia’s Jan-Oct nickel ore imports surge by 50 times from year ago

Reuters | November 15, 2024

Indonesia’s imports of nickel ore surged to 9.3 million metric tons in the first ten months of 2024, more than 50 times the corresponding figure of 161,917 tons for the year earlier period, the statistics bureau said on Friday.


The world’s biggest nickel producer has bought record volumes of the ore from the Philippines since April as smelter demand rose and Jakarta delayed the issue of mining quotas with heavy rains hurting mining activity, Reuters reported.

Alexander Barus, chief executive officer at nickel-focused Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, said the imports were ‘a rational business decision’ made by owners and management of domestic smelters.

“Domestic ore supply is lower than demand that reached 200 million tons per year for all specifications. Maybe because of the delay in nickel RKAB issuance,” Barus said, referring to the quotas.

Imports of nickel ore during January to October mostly came from the Philippines and China, for a total value of $406 million, up from $7.1 million a year earlier.

Indonesia changed the way it issued mining quotas this year, which affected nearly all miners in the resource-rich country. In June, authorities said they had issued 240 million metric tons of output quotas for the next three years.

However, ore shortages seemed to have continued later into the year. Top nickel producer China’s Tsingshan has cut its Indonesia ferronickel output because of ore shortage, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in September.

Indonesian authorities have defended the nickel ore quota, saying volumes approved were more than enough for smelters.

GEM, PT Vale Indonesia partner for $1.4bn nickel HPAL project
The nickel facility will produce 60,000 tonnes (t) of contained nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) annually, critical for energy storage system (ESS) batteries.

November 12, 2024

Chinese battery metal producer GEM has signed a project investment cooperation framework agreement with PT Vale Indonesia, the Indonesian unit of the Brazilian mining company Vale, to establish a high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) facility in the central Sulawesi province of Indonesia.

The $1.4bn nickel processing facility is designed to produce at least 60,000t of contained nickel in MHP annually, a key component for ESS batteries.

The plant will adhere to zero-carbon and intelligent design principles.

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Canada Nickel Intersects Massive Sulphide at Bannockburn Project

Provided By Canada Nickel Company Inc. November 5, 2024

Highlights

- First massive sulphide drilled by Canada Nickel in Timmins Nickel District
- Intersects 3.9 metres of massive sulphide within 12.7 metres of mineralization