PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Nickel Mines has started commissioning the fourth rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) line at its 80%-held Angel Nickel project, in Indonesia.
Each of Angel’s RKEF lines has a nameplate capacity of 9 000 t/y of nickel metal, equating to 750 t of nickel metal a month.
“To now have all four RKEF lines operating by mid-May, well ahead of their scheduled October delivery, is a remarkable achievement by our operations team on the ground in Weda Bay,” said Nickel Mines MD Justin Werner.
“Angel Nickel represents our first project within the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) and an important platform in our rapid growth story. As production levels continue to progressively build we now look forward to the commissioning of the Angel Nickel power plant in August, which will further increase monthly production levels across our RKEF operations.”
During its commissioning phase, production from Angel Nickel’s RKEF lines will run at less than 100% of the 36 000 t/y of nickel metal production nameplate capacity depending on power availability. Angel Nickel’s designated power plant remains on track to start commissioning in August, after which time the company expects production levels across all four RKEF lines to rapidly ramp up to above the nameplate capacity. Historically the company’s RKEF lines have operated in excess of 30% above nameplate capacity.