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Ravensthorpe nests on clean

nickel sentiment

hile nickel’s main use continues First Quantum sold the share in the
Wto be for the steelmaking industry, mine for $US240 million in May, retaining
an all-too-common theme of this year’s 70% and continuing as the operator. It’s
Australian Nickel Conference was the a substantial win for the Canadian com-
commodity’s continued growth into EV pany which had previously purchased
demands. the operation from BHP Ltd for $US340
Wood Mackenzie principal nickel ana- million in 2010.
lyst Angela Durrant’s keynote address POSCO will receive 7,500 tpa of mixed
set the tone for the day’s proceedings, nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitate from
suggesting the EV industry would make Ravensthorpe starting in 2024.
up 30% of nickel’s use by 2040. This First Quantum is also engaging in
growth for a clean, green future has po- conversations with POSCO on how to
sitioned explorers and producers to con- Mike Christie produce specialised nickel for cathode
sider their carbon footprints, from pro- production.
duction to downstream processing. generate all of our power on site using “Through water and power, Raven-
Speaking later in the day, First Quan- an acid plant and the steam that’s gen- sthorpe ticks all the boxes of the nickel
tum Ltd exploration director Mike Christie erated from that plant drives a series of supply for the future,” Christie said.
gleefully championed the Ravensthorpe turbines, both for powering the plant and “I think that’s one of the reasons why
nickel mine’s green box-ticking in West- for heating various vessels in the recov- POSCO was so keen to get involved.
ern Australia. ery process.” “They are a company that is very heav-
“Ravensthorpe is actually an incred- Ravensthorpe is not even on the WA ily invested into the cathode side of bat-
ibly clean source of nickel supply which power grid, as it sources its water from tery materials, and we’ll be talking to
is becoming increasingly important for seawater. The nickel-producing mine’s them in the future about how we design
us these days,” Christie said. “It has one green governance was validated earlier the Ravensthorpe mine to potentially
of the smallest carbon footprints of any this year when South Korean steelmaker produce a nickel sulphate product.”
nickel operation globally. POSCO subscribed to offtake and ac-
“The reasons for that is we basically quired 30% of the operation. – Fraser Palamara

• Andover – defining a major nickel-copper
sulphide deposit
• Barton, Turner River – two exciting projects in
Azure’s WA-based gold portfolio
Please use the link below or scan the QR code
to view Azure’s latest corporate presentation:
bit.ly/3ohCbGL

AzureMinerals www.azureminerals.com.au

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT NOVeMBeR 2021 Page 39