Weda Bay Nickel Project reached a capacity of 35,000mt of nickel since August 2020. Production for 2021 is expected to be under 30,000mt of nickel content, according to the company. Weda Bay Nickel Project in Indonesia is jointly owned by China’s Tsingshan (Qingshan) and French company Eramet.
The company is on track to reach its target of producing of 6mn wmt of nickel ore in 2021. In 2020, swift ramp-up at Weda Bay resulted in 3.4mn wet mt nickel ore production. Around 23,500mt of nickel ferroalloy was produced. The highest production quarter was the fourth quarter. Production at Weda Bay increased after nickel ferroalloy plant was put into operation in April last year which has now pushed its capacity to 35,000mt.
Nickel mining production first started in October 2019 with the agreement to supply to several metallurgical plants on Halmahera island.
Tsingshan Holding Group is also to sign a pact with Freeport McMoRan to build a copper smelter project at Weda Bay, according to local media reports. The smelter will have a capacity of 2.4mn mt of copper concentrate and output capacity of 600,000mt. The plant will also produce sulfate lithium batteries for electric vehicles in Indonesia.