Nickel is a special metal needed to make technological products using rechargeable batteries.
America’s Decision
Recently, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) added nickel to its proposed list of “50 important minerals” – defined on the basis of which minerals are essential to the economy or safety. national security and has a supply chain prone to disruption – while four other minerals, including potash, have been dropped from the 2021 list.
The USGS’s Critical Minerals List provides essential information for industry, policymakers, economists and practitioners, said Assistant Secretary of State for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo. science of minerals most important to the U.S. supply chain”.
The Biden Administration’s 100-day supply chain review identified investment priorities in nickel refining capacity, in coordination with countries such as Australia and China.
America will have a shortage of high-purity nickel.
According to a 100-day assessment, US is likely to experience a large shortage of high-purity grade 1 nickel – which battery material manufacturers need, within the next 3 to 7 years.
“If there is an opportunity for the US to become an important part of the battery supply chain, then nickel could be the most important factor in creating supply chain stability in the short and medium term,” the document states. clear, noting that the US “urgently” needs to develop a strategy around “class 1 nickel”.
In addition, although many of the minerals that the United States normally relies on for imports are still available domestically, they are often not mined for economic reasons. The US also lacks the processing capacity needed to refine many important minerals.
The US currently depends on refined nickel imports for about half of its annual consumption, according to the USGS. The top 3 suppliers last year were Canada (42%), Norway (10%), and Finland (9%). The inclusion of nickel on the essential metal list reflects the US dependence on foreign mineral imports.
What is Nickel?
Nickel is a silvery-white metal, with a lustrous surface whose main characteristics are hard, malleable, malleable, and easy to spin. Because of its special properties, nickel is rarely used in its pure form, but is mainly used as an alloying element, especially in anti-corrosion alloys, magnetic alloys, heat-resistant alloys, and alloys. Metal has special properties.
Nickel alloys are also used in many high-temperature environments, such as in aircraft and turbines… About 70% of nickel is used to make stainless steel, 17% is used to make “superalloys.” metal” and 7% is used in the plating industry, the rest is used in other fields, such as: rechargeable batteries, catalysts and other chemicals, minting, casting products and metal pounds.
Mining output and nickel reserves of countries in the world. Source: USGS
According to USGS, the world’s nickel reserves are currently estimated at about 89 million tons, of which the three countries with the largest reserves are: Indonesia, Australia, and Brazil. Specifically, Indonesia has the largest nickel reserves with 21 million tons, followed by Australia with 20 million tons and Brazil with 11 million tons.
The world production of nickel mining in 2019 is estimated at 2.7 million tons, mainly from countries such as: Indonesia (800 thousand tons), the Philippines (420 thousand tons), Russia (270 thousand tons), New Caledonia ( 220 thousand tons), Canada (210 thousand tons), Australia (210 thousand tons) and China (110 thousand tons).
Potentially rich nickel mine in Vietnam
According to sources, the whole country is currently only Ban Phuc Nickel Mine Co., Ltd (Ban Phuc Company) licensed to exploit and process nickel concentrates, other nickel mine areas only stop at the stage of searching and visiting investment exploration and preparation.
At the end of May 2019, BlackStone Company (Australia) announced to buy 90% of Ta Khoa nickel mining project, Ban Phuc commune, Bac Yen district, Son La province from AMR Nickel Limited for an undisclosed purchase price. , the remaining 10% belongs to Son La Mechanical Joint Stock Company. Mineral company from Australia at that time was confident that the project would be a new source of mineral supply in the future.
Illustration.
Indeed, on December 23, Blackstone Mining Company said that its prediction of mineral reserves of nickel, copper and platinum groups in Ta Khoa mine – located about 160 km west of Hanoi – is higher than previously estimated 73%. Accordingly, 4 mines are being exploited with reserves of about 130 million tons with 0.37% nickel content – equivalent to 485,000 tons of ore containing nickel.
As high-concentration nickel ores are increasingly depleted, low-grade diffusive nickel ores are becoming an important alternative source for the production of metallic nickel or nickel-based alloys, so this ore has large reserves or more. have significant economic value.
Another Australian market study rated the project as a “bargain” because the mine is rich in nickel.
In addition, the former Ban Phuc company already has facilities and machinery that can be restarted at low cost.
The demand for nickel metal in the world is increasing, at the same time, the price of nickel metal traded on the market is forecasted to be higher. Major countries around the world, including the US and China, are moving towards new technologies of the future, including green energy and devices that use rechargeable batteries like electric vehicles. The holding and mining of nickel will help ensure great profits for Vietnam.
Therefore, the work of improving the recovery efficiency of nickel metal and useful metals in low-concentration nickel mines will be increasingly invested in research and application. Doing this, Vietnam will become a major partner of countries with high demand for nickel.
T&G International Joint Stock Company
Address: 352 Hue Street, Le Dai Hanh Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi
Hotline: 0345786803
Email: hrm@tginterjsc.com
Website: http://tginternationaljsc.com
