New nickel refinery on horizon

“There’s a lot of enthusiastic people who will support and encourage us and provide every opportunity to make it work in and around Townsville,” Mr Downie said.

“This is something where we have the expertise, we have the logistics and there is market readiness. It all fits.”

Pure Minerals is acquiring 100 per cent of QPM, subject to a 45- day due diligence period.

Perth- based Pure Minerals chairman Jeremy King said QPM’s unique relationships and assets complemented their focus on securing a position in the battery materials market.

Townsville was emerging as a potential battery manufacturing centre, Mr King said. “Through QPM’s unique relationships, Pure Minerals obtains leverage to secure production from world- class nickel and cobalt deposits,” he said.

The QPM management team includes Gladstone Pacific Nickel founder Robert Pearce and nickel industry executive Andrew Matheson whose father, Peter, was a former manager of Queensland Nickel during its early days in Townsville.

Mr Downie said QPM would use an atmospheric pressure acid leach process to extract metal crystal nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate to supply the battery manufacturing market as well as iron oxide and other elements including scandium used in alloys.

He said the process held advantages because of its lower capital cost and environmental outcomes with reduced tailings and ability to recycle acid.

“We believe we will build something that is first and foremost right for the location and right for environmental standards,” Mr Downie said.

After feasibility studies at the CSIRO’s research facility at Waterford, Perth, the company planned to accept ore from June 2020 for processing at a $ 300 million Stage 1 plant in Townsville in mid- 2021, producing 25,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate and 3000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate, employing 400 people. A larger commercial scale plant would produce 130,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate and 25,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate, employing up to 800 people.