[ferro-alloys.com]China's Tsingshan Group and partners including GEM Co Ltd on Friday announced the start of work on a $700 million battery chemicals project in Indonesia.

 A GEM spokesman said piling work began on Friday, while a joint statement said construction would start "as soon as possible after obtaining relevant approvals".

A joint venture agreement on the project, situated in the Morowali Industrial Park on the island of Sulawesi, was signed on Sept. 28, 2018.

 Friday's statement gave no timeframe for the start of production and analysts have cast doubt on the possibility of a 2019 start-up as earlier guided by Japanese stakeholder Hanwa Co Ltd .

"This project refines the key raw material for the preparation of ternary power batteries from the laterite nickel ore – battery-grade nickel-cobalt raw materials," the statement said. Tsingshan is Indonesia's top nickel producer.

 The plant will produce 50,000 tonnes of nickel hydroxide intermediates and 150,000 tonnes of battery-grade nickel sulphate crystals annually, as well as 20,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate crystals and 30,000 tonnes of manganese sulphate crystals.

 Battery recycler Brunp, a unit of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), is also a partner in the project.

（Mining.com）

• [Editor:王可]