BHP Group plans to start production of nickel sulphate in the second quarter of next year, as it ramps up sales of its nickel products to the battery industry, asset president Eddie Haegel said on Friday.
BHP currently produces around 75 000 tonnes of nickel metal at its Kwinana refinery on the outskirts of Perth, which it sells mostly to chemicals makers in Asia who turn it into nickel sulphate, used to make batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).