Australia-based IGO announced a potential acquisition of nickel mining company, Western Areas. The company wants to extend its footprint in the battery materials after it acquired a stake in a lithium miner in June.
Western Areas (WA) has also confirmed that it is in preliminary talks with IGO in relation to a change of control proposal.
Western Areas has Australia’s highest-grade nickel mines with 100pc assets in Forrestania nickel projects. WA is Australia’s second-largest sulphide nickel miner with approximately 22,000 to 25,000mt of nickel in ore per annum from its Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll mines. Two of the lowest cost and highest-grade nickel operations in the world.
IGO already owns and operates the Nova nickel-copper-cobalt operation in Western Australia. IGO is invested in a lithium-focused joint venture with Tianqi Lithium Corporation, which comprises a 51pc stake in the Greenbushes Lithium Mine and 100pc interest in a downstream processing refinery at Kwinana producing battery-grade lithium hydroxide. The deal cost IGO $1.4bn.