Categories: General Market Commentary / Precious Metals
Topics: General Market Commentary / General Precious Metals

World's top miner charges into cobalt

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest miner, is advancing plans to add production of a key cobalt material used in rechargeable batteries to boost its exposure to the electric vehicle revolution.

The Nickel West operation in Western Australia, aiming to sell 90 percent of its output to the battery sector by the end of next year, has had success with laboratory tests on adding production of cobalt sulphate alongside its specialist nickel product, Asset President Eduard Haegel, said Monday in an interview.

“Our concern now isn’t about being able to make cobalt sulphate — it’s about being able to make it at the purity that we want,” Haegel said on the sidelines of the Diggers and Dealers mining forum in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The producer will advance to trials using a mini-processing plant, he said.

While cobalt sulphate — the chemical form of the metal used in car batteries and consumer electronics — has come under pressure this year, prices remain much higher than two years ago and there’s a risk of a cobalt supply crunch in the early 2020s as EV demand builds.

BHP is already accelerating plans to expand output of nickel sulphate, and will consider approvals to lift production to 200,000 metric tons a year, which would make Nickel West the world’s largest plant. The objective is being supported by the EV sector’s shift toward larger batteries that contain greater quantities of nickel, according to Haegel.

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