BHP is to build among the world’s largest nickel sulphate plants on the outskirts of Perth in order to establish market share in the base metal the demand of which is expected to surge owing to its application of electric vehicle batteries.
Eduard Haegel, who is in charge of building the plant for BHP, told Reuters: “I believe that we have timed our entry to the battery and nickel sulphate markets well – interest by customers and potential customers is significantly exceeding expectations”. Haegel was speaking at Diggers and Dealers, a conference in Western Australia.
“Today, based on forward orders and indications, we now expect to achieve the 90% (sales) target … by the end of next calendar year, 2019.” BHP expects to ramp up to full capacity of 100,000 tonnes over several years, said Reuters.
Nickel is in increasingly hot demand in new battery technologies that mean cars can travel further on a single charge. Using more nickel also cuts costs by reducing the amount of expensive cobalt, a mainstay of current electric vehicle battery technology, said Reuters.
Popular nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion batteries typically employ a ratio of 60% nickel to 20% cobalt and 20% manganese or 6:2:2. Increasingly battery makers are preparing to change the composition of these cathode materials to 80% nickel, 10% cobalt and 10% manganese.
