Nickel is one of the critical metals which plays an instrumental role in the energy transition and it’s likely that the electrification of transport will see nickel prices remain strong over the coming decades.
The metal’s inclusion in the US critical minerals list, underpinned by the US Government’s Inflation Reduction Act, along with the recently announced Critical Raw Materials Act in the European Union is likely to provide support from supply chain security interests.
This continued belief in the long-term potential of nickel can be seen clearly in Andrew Forrest’s $760m takeover bid for Mincor Resources (ASX:MCR) through his privately-owned vehicle Wyloo Metals.
XLR8 Metals, which is currently finalising an IPO to list on the ASX, is also a firm believer in nickel and has put together a suite of projects in both Tanzania and Sweden that places it in the perfect position to supply nickel into Europe with executive chairman Shannon Green telling Stockhead that the latter presented an enormous opportunity to get deeper into the EV supply chain.
“The EU is at the very advanced stage in the process of bringing in a mandate to cease production of ICE vehicles in the mid 2030s and they are a significant global player in the vehicle manufacturing space and are therefore going to need to source significant long life supplies that are stable and accessible,” he added.
“You always have to look for the silver linings and the opportunity that prevails out of the COVID outbreak for companies such as ourselves and part of how we have developed our company is exactly that opportunity, that the EU will mandate and enforce the supply of critical minerals within their borders.
“This is aimed at mitigating the lessons learned from the global supply chain collapses of an event such as COVID and will likely include grants and other incentives to help fuel that.”
He added that nickel sulphides with the grades and widths to be economic are reasonably difficult to find and the EU doesn’t currently possess plentiful nickel resources, a point that the company’s projects could address.
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