As of the end of March, the project, which is located within the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park in Central Sulawesi, had produced 5,953 tonnes of nickel metal with all four RKEF lines now commissioned. The remaining stockpiles of NPI will be progressively sold across the June quarter.
“Having stockpiled NPI from [Oracle Nickel] since late January we are delighted to have now received this Industrial Business Licence and to have commenced selling NPI,” said Managing Director Justin Werner.
“Our first sales from [Oracle Nickel] mark another important milestone for the project and we now look forward to seeing production continue to ramp-up in the months ahead and for [it] to become a material contributor to the company’s RKEF operations.”
Separately, the company said that construction of Oracle Nickel’s designated 380-MW power plant is progressing well and is scheduled to commence commissioning in the current quarter after which time production is expected to rapidly increase to over 130% of nameplate capacity.
The Oracle Nickel project is a joint collaboration with Shanghai Decent, Nickel Industries’ largest shareholder. Nickel Industries currently owns 70% of the project and signed an agreement earlier this year to acquire an additional 10% interest for US$75 million.
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