JAKARTA. Director-General of Mineral and Coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bambang Gatot Ariyono, said that several companies have been interested in investing in the development of refining facilities with hydrometallurgical technology.
Bambang said that although there is nothing concrete yet, the companies interested in investing in the development of refining facilities included Huayue Bahodopi in the IMIP Industrial Park, Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi with an input capacity of 11 million tons of nickel ore per year. "The output capacity is 60,000 tons of Nickel per year and 7,800 tons of cobalt," he said. The investment for this project is US$ 1.28 billion, starting in 2020 and targeted to be completed in 2021.
The second one is the project belong to PT QMB New Energy Material, located in Bahodopi IMIP Industrial Park, Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi. The refinery project will have an input capacity of 5 million tons of nickel ore per year, an output capacity of 50,000 tons of Ni per year, and 4,000 tons of cobalt per year with an investment of US$ 998.47 million.
Third, PT Harita Prima Abadi Mineral on behalf of PT Halmahera Persada Lygend (PT HPL) with one of the shareholders of Harita Group, PT Trimegah Bangun Persada. The refinery's input capacity is 8.3 million wet tons of nickel ore per year with an output capacity of 278,534 tons in the form of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate. The investment for the project is US$ 10.61 billion.
Finally, PT Nickel Indonesia has an input capacity of 2.4 million wet tons of nickel ore per year with an output capacity of 76,500 tons in the form of MHP, nickel sulfate and colbalt sulfate. That way, the estimated need for low-grade nickel in 2021 will reach 27 million tons per year. (AM/AR)