Supporting Nickel Downstreaming as Raw Material for EV Batteries, Minister of Industry Appreciates Establishment of HPAL Smelter

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) appreciates the establishment of a smelter that uses High-Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) technology to support efforts to grow the domestic industry, especially the mineral natural resource downstream industry and the development of the electric vehicle or EV ecosystem in the country.

"On this occasion, we would like to express our appreciation to all investors and the Board of Directors of PT Anugrah Neo Energy Materials and PT Gotion Indonesia Materials for their commitment to building the nickel smelter industry in Indonesia. This step contributes to the success of the downstream program and is an important step towards a Golden Indonesia 2045," said the Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in his written statement, quoted Thursday, September 14.

The signing of the HPAL battery project agreement was carried out by PT Anugrah Neo Energy Materials as an investor with strategic partner PT Gotion Indonesia Materials.

The HPAL battery project will convert nickel ore or limonite into Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP) using a hydrometallurgy process that uses High-Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) technology.

"This collaboration will later become a vertically integrated operation, which combines mining resources with HPAL facilities, to process Ni Ore into MHP and Ni/Co Sulfate, which is a cathode precursor material for EV battery production," said the Minister of Industry (Menperin ) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in his written statement, quoted Thursday, September 14.

Minister of Industry Agus said that one of the advantages of the HPAL smelter is that it can use limonite, which is a low-grade nickel ore, as feedstock. Limonite nickel ore is also rich in Co (cobalt) which is needed for Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) battery cathodes.

As a main aspect of EV production, the long path of EV battery production from limonite ore requires integrated support from various related industrial sectors. The Ministry of Industry itself continues to support and facilitate the needs of domestic industrial business players who contribute to the success of the downstream program.

"The existence of the HPAL battery project is expected to increase the national MHP capacity by 120,000 MT per year," he said.

The HPAL battery project is between PT Anugrah Neo Energy Materials (ANEM) with 100 percent PMDN status and strategic partner PT Gotion Indonesia Materials (GIM) with PMA status. The project will be located in Neo Energy Buleleng Industrial Park (NEBIP), Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi.

"With the quantitative target of developing the battery-based electric motor vehicle (KBLBB) industry for four wheels and more of 400 thousand units in 2025 and one million units in 2035, the projected need for nickel as a raw material for batteries, especially the NMC 811 battery type, will continue to increase," he concluded.