Name of the Project
Nickel beneficiation plant project.

Location
The project is located in South Africa’s North West province.

Client
Thakadu Battery Materials and Lonmin.

Project Description
Thakadu Battery Materials and Lonmin have concluded an agreement to proceed to bankable feasibility and an ultimate long-term offtake arrangement for the platinum group metals producer to supply its crude nickel sulphate stream to Thakadu. Thakadu will beneficiate the crude stream and produce high-purity, battery-grade nickel sulphate at its purification plant to be built at Lonmin’s base metals refinery (BMR).

Thakadu will leverage Lonmin’s existing BMR infrastructure and is expected to produce about 25 000 t/y of high-purity nickel sulphate. This will provide upstream raw material for the rapidly growing global lithium-ion battery market. The product’s end-uses are in stationary energy storage, consumer electronics and electric vehicles.

Jobs to be Created
The plant will create 60 permanent jobs, in addition to the employment opportunities created during construction.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Initial indications are that the plant will generate a yearly pretax internal rate of return of 47.3% over its operating life.

Value
The purification plant is expected to cost about $14-million to develop.

Duration
Commercial production from the plant is planned for the first half of 2018.

Latest Developments
Thakadu has taken significant steps forward in its high-purity battery-grade nickel sulphate plant project.

A definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the plant has been completed, and debt financing discussions are under way to help fund the plant’s construction. This funding will complement the equity funding that has been secured.

The next step in the project will be the detailed engineering design in preparation for project execution. 

“The robust economics indicated by the DFS are fantastic for long-term value,” Thakadu CEO Ruli Diseko has noted.

Production of the pure nickel sulphate is expected to start at the end of 2018.

Thakadu has negotiated strategic partnership agreements for offtake that underpin the project’s viability, with the first deliveries of refined product set to begin in January 2019. 

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Lonmin, Wendy Tlou, cell +27 83 301 9663.
Thakadu, Ruli Diseko, cell +27 72 518 7828.