Nickel: BHP wants to expand operations to meet increased demand

BHP will make a final investment decision on a major expansion of the processing facility at its Mt. Keith nickel mine in Western Australia, further investing in the industry to meet expected rising demand.

Nickel is a key component for electric vehicle cathodes, and the company sees demand for nickel growing faster than expected thanks to spikes in EV demand, with governments busy decarbonising.

BHP Nickel West President Eddy Haegel said that from 2020 to 2030, overall nickel demand will grow at a 5% compound annual growth rate, and that nickel demand in batteries will grow at a 21% CAGR.

EV giant Tesla delivered more than 200,000 vehicles in April-June for the first time in a quarterly period. According to the new estimates, electric vehicles will account for 25% of all vehicles sold by 2030.

Adding a concentrator to BHP’s Mt. Keith processing plant would increase capacity by up to 50% to 15 million tons per year.

At the same time, the miner plans to cut its carbon emissions by 12% from 2020 levels in the nickel mines of Mt. Keith and Leinster thanks to a deal signed last week with Canadian TransAlta Renewables.

BHP is also about to decide on at least one new mine on land collected by Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel when it exited Australia last year.

The company is working on many fronts. Along with increasing supply, it has taken steps to secure demand, including a recent deal with Tesla. The automaker said in June that it expects to spend more than $ 1 billion annually on battery raw materials from Australia given the country’s reliability of the mining industry and responsible manufacturing practices.

BHP is also looking to acquire the Canadian nickel company Noront Resources, which owns the nickel and copper deposit Eagle’s Nest.