Thakadu begins nickel production from $20m Marikana facilities ahead of EV demand growth

Ruli Diseko, CEO, Thakadu Group

THAKADU Battery Materials has begun production of nickel sulphate from its $20m facility in South Africa representing the first step in becoming a supplier of battery raw materials, the company said in an announcement.

It will produce 30,000 tons of nickel sulphate which is used in the growing global market for electric mobility and stationary energy storage, it added.

“We see enormous value in having a battery materials platform with a producing asset and we are pursuing synergistic M&A opportunities to leverage that into a clean and reliable source of battery materials for the global market,” said CEO, Ruli Diseko.

Diseko was previously employed by Lonmin which was subsequently taken over by Sibanye-Stillwater via a merger in 2019. Thakadu’s newly built refinery is on the Lonmin facilities which have been renamed Marikana by Sibanye-Stillwater.

The refinery purifies crude nickel sulphate extracted from a platinum group metal concentrate that would otherwise be sold as a lower value product, it said.

Production of 16,000 tons has been targeted for 2021 with the subsequent ramp-up to steady state production of 25,000 tons annually planned after that. Nickel sulphate supply will be in terms of a long-term supply agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater, and other supplemental feed sources, the company said.

Nickel demand from the automotive sector is growing rapidly with electric mobility expected to represent the single-largest growth sector for nickel demand over the next 20 years, the company said in a statement.

According to Roskill, a specialist market research company, nickel sulphate consumption has grown at 20% a year since 2014 owing to electric vehicle battery growth.

Contained nickel demand is expected to total 2.6 million tons annually by 2040 compared to 90,000 to 100,000 tons today. “We are excited about leading Africa’s contribution to a cleaner planet,” said Diseko.

“We believe that investing in value addition of battery raw materials at source is not only developmental but creates logistics and supply efficiencies that are a net positive for a greener future.”