China’s GEM and Vale plan $1.42bn Indonesian nickel plant

GEM Co., a Chinese battery-metal producer, and Vale’s Indonesian unit signed an agreement to build a $1.42-billion nickel plant in the Southeast Asian nation, highlighting the country’s drive to boost processing.

The two companies signed a framework agreement for a high-pressure acid leach facility on Sunday, GEM said in a filing. The project on Sulawesi island will process nickel laterite ore from the Vale unit into 66,000 tons of mixed hydroxide precipitate annually. That’s a form of nickel aimed at automakers.