PT Vale Indonesia has signed an investment deal with China’s Shandong Xinhai Technology Co. Ltd and a unit of China Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd to develop a processing plant on Sulawesi island.
The project, which is located in Bahodopi, in the Morowali district, would cost around USD 2.1bn.
Under the deal, the companies will form a joint venture firm, with Vale controlling 49% of the stake. Shandong Xinhai and Baowu, through its subsidiary Taiyuan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd (TISCO), would together control 51%.
The Bahodopi project would produce ferronickel with 73,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes of nickel content per year.
The Bahodopi project would be the first nickel plant in Indonesia to be powered with liquefied natural gas.
In Pomalaa, Vale and its partners are developing a plant to produce 120,000 tonnes per annum of mixed hydroxide precipitate, a material extracted from nickel ore that would be used in batteries for electric vehicles.