Top 10 Nickel Mining Projects Worldwide in 2024: Ranking and Future Projections

Zefanya Aprilia, CNBC Indonesia

Market

Thursday, 08/02/2024 20:30 WIB

Photo: Obi Island Nickel Mine, North Maluku. (CNBC Indonesia/Suhendra)

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Having abundant nickel reserves, in fact the largest in the world, Indonesia is the country with number one nickel production in the world. Based on data from the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, of the 2.67 million tonnes of nickel production worldwide in 2019, Indonesia has produced 800,000 tonnes. This number far exceeds the Philippines (420,000 tons of Ni), Russia (270,000 tons of Ni), and New Caledonia (220,000 tons of Ni).

But is the new nickel mining project in Indonesia among the 10 largest nickel mining projects in the world?

Recently mining.com and its sister companies summarized the top 10 nickel mining projects being developed throughout the world. This ranking is based on indicated and measurable nickel resource content.

For information, the classification of mineral resources is divided into three, namely inferred, indicated and measurable resources.

This division is based on geological confidence where inferred resources are at the bottom of the hierarchy with the lowest level of confidence and measured resources have the highest level of geological confidence.

This ranking was carried out by mining.com to identify key nickel reserves that could become part of the global nickel supply map in the future.

It should be noted that the list compiled is not mines that are currently operating, but mining projects that are still in the development stage, whether in the advanced exploration stage, initial economic study or in the feasibility study phase.

Although currently most of the nickel mined is used for stainless steel, this base metal is starting to gain attention as the main raw material for the production of batteries for electric vehicles.

In the future, electric car battery manufacturing companies are predicted to increase the use of nickel in their cathode batteries

Currently, the global nickel market is experiencing a surplus, however, a supply deficit is expected to occur from 2027 onwards, in line with increasing demand, especially the greater penetration of electric vehicles.

Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia may be proud to be the world’s main nickel producers, but six of the world’s 10 largest nickel projects this year are in North America (US and Canada).

MiningIntelligence data notes that six of the world’s 10 largest nickel projects this year are in North America (US and Canada).

First place is occupied by DeepGreen Metal’s project, which is currently still in the advanced exploration phase. What is unique is that these nickel reserves are located on the ocean floor in the Clarion-Clipperton fault zone which is located in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Mexico.

The project in Pacific waters has nickel metal reserves of 4.8 million tons with a grade of 1.4%.

Ranked 2nd is the project belonging to Waterton Precious Metals, this project located in Quebec, Canada has total reserves of 4.39 tons of sulfide type nickel metal. However, because this reserve is of the magmatic type, the nickel content in the project with this primary deposit type is only 0.26%

The 3rd and 4th positions are still projects located in Canada, specifically in British Columbia.

The two projects are primary nickel deposits with low grades, 0.12% and 0.22% respectively with metal reserves of 2.43 million and 2.36 million tons.

Still in North America, the fifth largest nickel project is located in Minnesota, United States.

The project, which is still in the pre-feasibility study phase, has nickel reserves of 2.3 million tons and a grade of 0.18%. The mine application was previously under intense scrutiny after public outcry over the environmental impacts and risks and was halted during Obama’s presidency. However, this project was given the green light again during Trump’s leadership.

Furthermore, the 6th position was achieved by a domestic nickel mining project, this project belongs to the BUMN PT Aneka Tambang Tbk. (ANTM) or Antam in Sengaji, Halmahera

Like most nickel in Indonesia, Antam’s type of deposit is nickel laterite with a relatively high grade, and is the project with the highest grade on this list of the 10 largest nickel projects. The nickel metal content in the Sengaji Project reaches 2 million tons with a grade of 1.7% and is currently still in the advanced exploration stage.

The other four projects are as follows, Ardea Resources’ Goongarrie project in Australia; the Canadian company’s Crawford project in Timmins-Cochrane, Ontario; Teck Resources’ Mesaba project in Minnesota, United States; and finally Metals X’s The Wingellina backup in Australia.

Watch the video below: