Foreign media: China's control over rare earths has raised concerns in the market that China may further control other minerals, which has drawn attention to Australia's nickel assets.
The price of nickel has plummeted from $30,000 per ton to $15,000 per ton over the past three years, mainly due to excessive production in Indonesia, and most of Indonesia's mines and smelters are controlled by Chinese commercial interests. As a result, global competitors have exited the nickel business, including Nickel West, a subsidiary of the world's largest mining company BHP.
However, recently, private equity companies and small local miners have shown interest in purchasing assets of Nickel West separately. In addition, Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsubishi have jointly invested in Australia's Goongarrie nickel-cobalt project, which is expected to produce 30,000 tons of nickel and 2,000 tons of cobalt annually for 40 years, with costs comparable to those in Indonesia.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846419722918976/
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