China's Weiming Advances Nickel Matte Project in Indonesia

Chinese environmental protection equipment manufacturer Weiming made significant progress on August 25 in its Jiaman high nickel matte project, located in the north Maluku province of Wedabay, Indonesia. The company began preheating the first side-blown converter, a critical step toward moving the equipment into the linkage debugging phase before full-scale production begins.

Jiaman, a joint venture between Weiming and Merit International Capital, has a nameplate capacity of 40,000 tons per year in nickel metal equivalent. The facility features four production lines, each capable of producing 10,000 tons of nickel metal equivalent annually.

The Jiaman project is notable for being the second in Indonesia to adopt the oxygen-enriched side-blowing furnace (OESBF) process, following a similar initiative by Chinese nickel and lithium-ion battery cathode active material (CAM) precursor producer CNGR in 2022. The OESBF process is considered cost-effective, utilizing ores with low nickel content and enabling the recovery of cobalt metal, according to CNGR.

Market observers are closely watching the development and feasibility of the OESBF process, as it remains an emerging technology.

In addition to the Jiaman project, Weiming is involved in two other high nickel matte projects in Indonesia, with production capacities of 40,000 tons and 50,000 tons per year, respectively. These ventures will bring Weiming's total nickel metal production capacity in Indonesia to 130,000 tons annually.