Irwandy Arif, a senior official with the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said the government is focused on the development of High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) smelters – which extract nickel and cobalt from laterite ore bodies to produce Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate, a precursor material for the battery industry – and smelters that produce nickel matte.
It is unclear whether the possible termination will apply to existing permits.
Reserves of ore graded above 1.5% are expected to last until 2029 assuming there is no further exploration, Irwandy told participants at an industry…
