Pure Battery Technologies highlights greener nickel future

A Townsville battery materials plant proponent has highlighted its green credentials amid renewed discussion about environmental considerations when bringing nickel from the mine to the burgeoning battery manufacturing market. Brisbane-based Pure Battery Technologies prides itself in producing 'environmentally superior' very pure battery materials for lithium-ion batteries with technology initially developed by the University of Queensland.. It is already producing basic nickel carbonate at a nickel refining operation in Germany as a testing ground for its technology as it works towards developing its first commercial plant in Townsville. "We are in a much better position now to demonstrate what we can do in Townsville, and we are in discussion with large feedstock suppliers, as well as off-take parties. It will take time, but we'll get there," managing director Bjorn Zikarsky said. Chinese nickel giant Tsingshan recently agreed to supply battery production chain companies with 100,000 tonnes of nickel ‘matte’ converted from lower quality nickel pig iron (NPI) - a carbon intensive process. It prompted Mr Zikarsky to release a position statement on the environmental factors in nickel supply for the growing EV market, highlighting this as a short-term fix in an industry with a broad focus on the need to reduce emissions. "Huayou requires nickel feedstock and is asking Tsingshan to help them so they can match battery demand – both parties are certainly aware that there are better environmental ways to produce class 1 nickel than converting NPI into battery salts; this is also how one can look at the announcement of Tsingshan investing into solar energy," he said. "While the nickel industry might be anxious when it comes to China’s technological roll-out of innovation for nickel processing with RKEF (rotary kiln-electric furnace smelting) starting over 10 years ago, what happened with Huayou for class 1 nickel is likely a short-term fix to allow them to catch up as the industry ramps up to bring environmental better produced nickel to market. "There is one common view that all insiders share irrespective of technology – we are short of nickel class 1, we need to reduce emissions in all we do, and government subsidies of EV car purchases does not mean you can build a mine or refinery any faster. "It is well known that RKEF emits up to 40 times the amount of CO2 compared to a hydromet plant when concentrating nickel from ore into NPI and MHP respectively. "And converting NPI into NiSO4 (nickel sulphate) is five times as emissive compared to converting MHP (Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate) into NiSO4. That is not new. "What is new is that refiners are doing their part to capture the environmental advantage of the MHP to pre-cursor pathway." Pure Battery Technologies managing director Bjorn Zikarsky. Projects including the Queensland Pacific Metals TECH plant proposed for Townsville would be producing nickel products at much lower CO2 emission levels than traditional methods, he said. However, Mr Zikarsky said Pure Battery Technologies was taking this to another level - reducing the CO2 emissions when converting MHP into nickel sulphate by another 50 per cent when compared to the current industry process pathways. It does this with selective acid leach (SAL) technology. "Using hydromet processing and MHP refining compared to NPI production and conversion could shave a cool 100 million tonnes of CO2 per annum off global emission just in the production of NiSO4 alone," Mr Zikarsky said. "It is obvious to all concerned that the industry is changing focus to hydrometallurgical processes and making more MHP, however investment in this part of the production chain isn’t yet meeting the demand from the battery manufacturers." Pure Battery Technologies aims to present data in the near future regarding emissions for the production of NMC622 and NMC 811 cathode material from its SAL and Combined Leach (CL) processes. "The combination of these two processes recovers the cobalt that is lost in the RKEF process, and removes the need to completely separate the metals, thus greatly reducing energy consumption and emissions from the refining process," Mr Zikarsky said. "This is the next step in minimising the emissions and maximizing the productivity of Ni and Co refining to pre-cursor materials." Pure Battery Technologies' proposed Townsville plant would process about 200,000 tonnes of MHP per annum to produce 25,000 tonnes of nickel in nickel sulphate - a precursor cathode active material.

Pure Battery Technologies highlights greener nickel future

Industry Queensland

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