FPX Nickel achieves production of battery-grade nickel sulphate from optimized refinery flowsheet
by CM staff
Results demonstrate the ability to produce cobalt and copper by-products, both contributing to potential for enhanced economics for Baptiste.
Figure 1 – Battery-Grade Nickel Sulphate Crystals Produced from Baptiste’s Awaruite Nickel Concentrate (CNW Group/FPX Nickel Corp.)
VANCOUVER — FPX Nickel Corp., has achieved a milestone in the production of battery-grade nickel sulphate from its Baptiste Nickel Project in central British Columbia.
FPX’s hydrometallurgical testwork program has resulted in improvements to the refinery flowsheet for the processing of Baptiste’s awaruite nickel concentrate. In addition to demonstrating that awaruite’s unique properties lead to an efficient route for producing battery-grade nickel sulphate, the program successfully produced cobalt and copper by-products, which both represent new potential value sources for Baptiste.
Testwork performed in collaboration with Sherritt Technologies Ltd. produced nickel sulphate crystals with quality that meets industry-standard battery-grade specifications.
The orogram has lead to optimization of the refinery flowsheet, reducing the number of purification stages, reagent consumption, and equipment sizes, confirming that FPX’s awaruite nickel concentrate has clear advantages over competing intermediate feedstocks for the production of nickel sulphate.
Results demonstrate the ability to produce cobalt and copper by-products, both contributing to potential for enhanced economics for Baptiste.
“The results of our hydrometallurgical testwork program clearly demonstrate the technical advantages of awaruite nickel mineralization to produce battery-grade nickel sulphate, presenting an opportunity to develop a new vertically integrated nickel supply chain in Canada,” commented Andrew Osterloh, FPX Nickel’s Senior Vice-President, Projects & Operations. “In addition to processing advantages, the size of the Baptiste resource can produce up to 43,500 tonnes of nickel contained in nickel sulphate per year, enough to fulfill 17% of the projected North American EV battery demand for nickel in 20301, all without displacing any of North America’s current smelting and primary refining capacity. These testwork results are currently being incorporated into our preliminary feasibility study (“PFS”), which remains on track for completion in September 2023, where we will be able to further demonstrate Baptiste’s potential to deliver low-cost, low-carbon nickel units to the EV supply chain over a 30-year mine life.”
