CANADA NICKEL PLANS TO BUILD AMERICA’S LARGEST NICKEL PLANT

By Éric Descarries

Canadian mining company Canada Nickel Co. Inc. has just announced plans to build a nickel-processing plant in Ontario. Likely to be the largest of its kind in North America, the plant will cost around US$1 billion (approx. C$1.35 billion).

By 2027, it will be able to produce over 80,000 tonnes of nickel per year. The company also intends to build a stainless steel and alloy plant to manufacture nickel and chromium concentrates, representing an additional investment of some US$2 billion (approx. CDN$2.70 billion).

This decision will help create an infrastructure for the refinement of basic materials used in the production of car batteries, thus avoiding the need to transport local extractions to China for processing, then back to carmakers in North America. Canada Nickel also wants to stem the flood of products from Indonesia (stimulated mainly by Chinese investment).