Michael Elkins, writing for Investing.com reports that Ford Motor Company has joined with PT Vale Indonesia and China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt in a USD 4.5-billion nickel processing plant in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The proposed high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) plant will be located in Pomalaa where Vale operates a nickel mine. Vale and Huayou began construction of the plant in November and commercial operation is expected to start in 2026, reports Elkins.
Indonesia, which has the world’s biggest nickel reserves, has been trying to develop downstream industries for the metal, ultimately aiming to produce batteries and electric vehicles.
Febriany Eddy, chief executive of Vale Indonesia, said the deal is unique in bringing the U.S. automaker into an upstream nickel business. She said that Vale has a 30-percent stake in the project, with the remainder being controlled by Ford and Huayou.
Elkins says the companies did not disclose how much Ford will invest in the plant, which is expected to produce 120,000-tons per year of mixed hydroxide precipitate, a material extracted from nickel ore for use in EV batteries.
“Ford can help ensure that the nickel that we use in electric vehicle batteries is mined, produced within the same ESG standards as part of our business around the world,” Christopher Smith, Ford’s chief government affairs officer, said at the signing ceremony.
Shares of Ford went up by 0.66-percent in pre-market trading on Thursday.
Source: Investing.com
