Vale Indonesia and China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt have signed a deal with U.S. automaker Ford to develop a $4.5 billion nickel mine in Indonesia. Under the terms of the agreement, the three companies will make an equity investment in the high pressure acid leaching project in the Pomalaa block.

ValeIndonesia will supply ore from its Pomalaa Block mine to the Pomalaa Block HPAL project to produce mixed hydroxide precipitates. MHP is a lower-cost nickel product used in electric vehicle batteries with nickel-rich cathodes. The HPAL plant is located in the Pomalaa block of Kolaka in southwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia, and is operated by local mining company Kolaka Nickel Indonesia. The plant can produce up to 120 tonnes per annum of nickel in the form of MHP, subject to regulatory approval.

"This framework gives Ford direct control over sourcing the nickel we need, allowing us to ensure nickel is mined in line with our company's sustainability goals, with our scale set right," said Lisa Drake, Ford's vice president of Model e EV industrialization. ESG criteria. Working in this way, Ford can help make electric vehicles more accessible to millions of people, and do it in a way that helps better protect people and the planet.

Early site preparation for the Pomalaa Block HPAL project has already begun, with full construction expected to begin in 2023 and commercial operation in 2026. The tripartite agreement comes after Vale Indonesia broke ground in 2022 on the Pomalaa block, a national strategy project expected to generate 12,000 construction jobs.

Vale Indonesia CEO Febriany, Eddy said the agreement shows that it's not just about what we mine, but how we mine it. We embed our environmental, social and governance standards into everything we do, and the result is a unique partnership with global automaker Ford and leading global minerals processor Huayou to co-invest in this project.

This global collaboration is in line with Indonesia's vision of building a domestic electric vehicle ecosystem and positions PT Vale as an important contributor to the world's decarbonization challenge, with investments that will generate local economic benefits and ensure optimal utilization of Indonesia's nickel resources.Editor/XingWentao