① Australian mining company Mineral Resources announced that it has acquired a nickel processing plant in Western Australia and will use the plant to process lithium ore into concentrate in the future; ② After a sharp drop in nickel prices, about half of the world's nickel mines were unprofitable. The harsh reality forced some Australian nickel producers to close their business.
Financial Services Association, March 18 (Editor Xia Junxiong) On Monday (March 18) local time, Australian mining company Mineral Resources announced that it has acquired a nickel beneficiation plant in Western Australia and will use the plant to process lithium ore into concentrate in the future.
Mineral Resources spent 15 million Australian dollars (equivalent to $9.8 million) to acquire the nickel processing plant from Poseidon Nickel Limited, and also obtained 10 mining leases and an exploration license in the Goldmine-Sperance Zone.
According to Chris Ellison, managing director of Mineral Resources, the acquisition of this nickel beneficiation plant is part of the company's plans to build a “third lithium processing center” in Western Australia. Once in operation, the plant will be its first factory equipped with lithium powder flotation capacity.
Due to Indonesia's low price nickel impacting the market, causing serious oversupply. Coupled with factors such as the slowdown in global economic growth, nickel prices fell 45% last year, and the current nickel price is about 17,900 US dollars/ton. According to some analysts, Indonesia's nickel production will continue to grow, and nickel prices will not rise sharply in the short to medium term.
After nickel prices fell sharply, about half of the world's nickel mines were unprofitable, and the harsh reality forced some Australian nickel producers to shut down their operations.
Nickel is an important raw material for making lithium-ion batteries, and is one of the green metals essential for achieving the global energy transition. Indonesia, on the other hand, is the world's largest producer of nickel. The country currently accounts for more than half of the world's supply, and this ratio may rise further to 3/4 by 2030.
As Mineral Resources acquires a nickel beneficiation plant, more lithium companies are likely to start buying nickel beneficiation plants to process lithium in the future.
Western Australia's nickel processing plants are located near lithium mines, and struggling nickel producers may be willing to sell their beneficiation plant assets and associated infrastructure, giving lithium producers and developers an opportunity to buy these assets at discounted prices.
Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Bank, pointed out that it is not difficult for nickel smelters to process lithium, and the material flow in the factory will hardly change.