Nickel mining site in Sorowako, Indonesia. /Reuters Yonhap News
Analysis has shown that Indonesia’s reserves of nickel, a key raw material for electric vehicle batteries, may only be sufficient for 15 years. Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer.
According to the Jakarta Post on the 19th (local time), Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif recently met with reporters and warned, “Given the current high annual consumption, Indonesia’s nickel could be depleted in 15 years.” did.
He explained that local nickel ore reserves total 22.3 billion tons, of which 5.3 billion tons are proven quantities, but the remaining 170 tons are only estimates. Moreover, this is a standard figure for ore, and the nickel metal usually extracted from ore is only 1.5% to 3%, meaning that the amount that can actually be used is much less.
In fact, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates Indonesia’s reserves of nickel metal to be 21 million tons. Previously, Indonesia produced 1.6 million tons of nickel metal last year, and according to USGS estimates, all local nickel could be used up in 13 years. Minister Arifin emphasized that in this situation, more investment should be made in nickel exploration and electric vehicle battery recycling facilities.
Some voices point out the downstream industries that local authorities are focusing on. The Indonesian government is blocking the export of nickel ore and increasing investment in refineries and smelters from 2020, saying it will foster the mineral refining and smelting industry. As a result, smelting capacity has increased significantly, but local nickel minerals alone cannot meet the demand, so the country relies on imports from the Philippines.
“We need to conduct accurate research on how many smelters are actually needed,” said Putu Rusta Adijaya, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute (TII), a public policy research institute. “If over-construction is done, nickel will be quickly exhausted due to over-mining and excess nickel will be created.” “Prices may fall significantly due to supply,” he said.
#number #country #production #lasted #years.. #Concerns #depletion #nickel #core #electric #vehicle #batteries
2023-09-19 08:10:00
