JAKARTA – PT Merdeka Battery Materials Tbk (MBMA) has worked with a strategic partner to construct a High-Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) plant worth USD 1.8 billion.

This HPAL plant is located at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) and will be operated by PT Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt (SLNC). The plant will eventually have an annual production capacity of 90,000 tonnes of nickel in the form of Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP).

The plant's location is also adjacent to the HPAL facility owned by PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt (HNC), a joint venture company led by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd. (Huayou).

In this project, HNC will oversee the construction, while MBMA is responsible for securing the necessary permits and approvals from the Indonesian government.

Teddy Oetomo, President Director of MBMA, said that the project aims to optimise nickel resources and increase annual MHP production more than twofold.

“SLNC will source laterite nickel ore from PT Sulawesi Cahaya Mineral (SCM), a subsidiary of MBMA, which holds reserves of approximately 13.8 million tonnes of nickel and 1.0 million tonnes of cobalt,” he said. (DK/KR/ZH)