miningweekly.com 16 Nov, 2016
Platinum mining company Lonmin has agreed to supply its crude nickel sulphate stream to beneficiator Thakadu Battery Materials, which will be constructing a $14-million high-purity battery-grade nickel sulphate plant at the platinum-mining company’s base metals refinery (BMR). In addition to funding and building the purification plant, Thakadu would leverage off Lonmin’s existing BMR infrastructure to produce an expected 25 000 t of high-purity nickel sulphate a year for supply in to the lithium-ion battery market. Thakadu has also raised funding for the purification plant’s bankable feasibility study, which is due to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. Commercial production from the plant is planned for the first half of 2018.