GEM and CATL’s Indonesian high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) plant has shipped 1.2kt Ni-in-mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP).

The QMB plant is located at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) on Sulawesi and was developed by GEM, IMIP, CATL, Hanwa and other smaller stakeholders. Significantly, it was the first of the Indonesian HPALs to be announced back in 2018 but endured a challenging development caused by pandemic-related travel restrictions for Chinese technical experts. Additionally, a change of tailings disposal options added additional delays and costs. The plant was eventually commissioned at the very end of last year for an initial capacity of 30ktpy Ni, but additional phases at QMB will result in a total capacity of a little over 100ktpy Ni by late 2024.

The commissioning and ramp-up at QMB means that Indonesia is now home to three HPAL operations that will provide a significant volume of nickel units in the form of MHP and sulphate to the Li-ion battery supply chain. The success of QMB, along with the PT HPL, PT Huayue Ni Co and Ramu next-generation HPALs, proves the technology has moved on from notoriously inefficient predecessors. As such, these represent a blueprint for future installations, which will take advantage of Indonesia’s abundant limonite resources that are well-suited to hydrometallurgical processing.

Excluding multiple expansion phases, Project Blue is tracking the development of 10 further HPALs in Indonesia. Several of these are touted to have very large nickel capacities, in the region of 120ktpy Ni, as well as substantial cobalt tonnages. As ever for Indonesian nickel, the limitations largely relate to ESG concerns. These projects will produce enormous volumes of tailings waste that will have to be stored safely on land, given the well-documented unease surrounding deep-sea tailings placement.