[STRATEGIC] Critical Minerals ·
Nickel HPAL · Battery Supply Chain / Indonesia —
March 31, 2026 — COMPLETED
Nickel Industries Completes $46M Stake
Increase in Excelsior Nickel Cobalt HPAL — Becoming Largest Shareholder at 46%
ASX-listed Nickel Industries reaches a pivotal milestone in its
Excelsior Nickel Cobalt HPAL (high-pressure acid leach) project in Indonesia:
completing a $46 million payment to increase its equity stake to 46% — becoming
the project's largest single shareholder — while simultaneously restructuring
the ownership and financing terms to reduce future cash outflows by $207
million versus the prior scheduled payment structure.
DEAL SNAPSHOT
|
DEAL VALUE US$46 Million (acquires
additional 2% interest from Shanghai Decent) |
PROJECT VALUATION ~US$2.4 Billion (based
on Sphere Corp Jan 2026 10% acquisition) |
|
COMPLETED By March 31, 2026 (per
scheduled agreement terms) |
CASH OUTFLOW SAVINGS US$207 Million reduction
vs. prior scheduled payment structure |
|
RESULTING STAKE 46% of ENC (up from 44%)
— now largest shareholder |
ENC PRODUCTION TARGET ~72,000 tonnes of
contained nickel per annum (MHP + cathode + sulphate) |
THE PARTIES
|
ACQUIRER (STAKE INCREASE) Nickel Industries Limited
(ASX: NIC) Australian
nickel and battery materials producer. CEO Justin Werner. ASX-listed with
operations in Indonesia. Nickel Industries is one of the most active Western
investors in Indonesian nickel processing — it operates the Hengjaya Nickel
and Ranger Nickel rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) plants in the Indonesia
Morowali Industrial Park, and holds a 10% stake in the Huayue Nickel Cobalt
HPAL project. The Excelsior Nickel Cobalt (ENC) project is Nickel Industries'
flagship next-generation investment — a $2.3+ billion HPAL plant capable of
producing battery-grade class 1 nickel products for the EV supply chain. In
January 2026, South Korean materials firm Sphere Corp (a SpaceX nickel
supplier) acquired a 10% ENC stake at a $2.4B project valuation. |
SELLER (OF 2% STAKE) Shanghai Decent Investment
(Tsingshan Group) + ENC Project Shanghai
Decent is the Chinese industrial partner and initial developer of the ENC
project — an affiliate of Tsingshan Group, the world's largest stainless
steel and nickel producer. Shanghai Decent designed the HPAL technology for
ENC based on experience from the Huayue Nickel Cobalt HPAL project. As Nickel
Industries increases its stake toward 46%, Shanghai Decent's proportional
ownership decreases correspondingly. The ENC project is located in the
Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park in Halmahera, Indonesia. Projected
production: approximately 72,000 tonnes of contained nickel equivalent per
annum across mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), nickel sulphate, and nickel
cathode — three separate class 1 nickel product streams that serve battery
manufacturers and EV supply chains directly. |
DEAL OVERVIEW
Nickel Industries
completed a previously agreed payment of US$46 million to acquire an additional
2% interest in the Excelsior Nickel Cobalt HPAL project from major shareholder
Shanghai Decent, lifting its total stake to 46% and making Nickel Industries the
project's largest single shareholder by March 31, 2026 — the scheduled
completion date under the restructured agreement. This transaction was part of
a broader ownership restructuring announced in early 2026, which
simultaneously: (1) replaced previously scheduled payments totalling US$253
million; (2) extended payment timelines; and (3) saved Nickel Industries
approximately US$207 million in total expected cash outflows versus the prior
structure.
The ENC project
is among the most significant nickel HPAL developments globally — not just in
scale (72,000 tpa nickel equivalent) but in the diversity of its output: unlike
most existing HPAL plants that produce only MHP, ENC is designed from the
ground up to produce nickel cathode, nickel sulphate, and MHP in flexible
proportions depending on market conditions. This operational flexibility makes
ENC uniquely valuable as the battery materials market continues to evolve (with
nickel sulphate favoured by South Korean battery makers, MHP by Chinese
processors, and cathode by US and European buyers).
"The ENC project represents the next evolution in battery-grade
nickel production. By increasing our stake to 46% and becoming the largest
shareholder, we are cementing our position at the heart of the global EV
battery supply chain."
— Justin
Werner, CEO, Nickel Industries
THE HPAL BATTERY NICKEL RACE
High-Pressure
Acid Leach (HPAL) technology is the only commercially proven process for
producing battery-grade class 1 nickel from laterite ores — the dominant nickel
ore type in Indonesia, which holds the world's largest nickel reserves. As
global EV production scales from approximately 20 million vehicles annually in
2026 toward 60+ million by 2030, demand for battery-grade nickel is expected to
triple, creating enormous value for the small number of operating HPAL plants
globally. Sphere Corp's January 2026 acquisition of a 10% ENC stake — at a $2.4
billion project valuation and linked to a $1 billion nickel supply agreement
for SpaceX rocket components — validates the strategic importance of ENC's
output far beyond conventional EV applications.