Pomalaa : Nickel Smelter with the Largest Production in the World

The construction of the Pomalaa nickel smelter is estimated to be the largest production nickel smelter in the world. This was conveyed by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan when inaugurating the construction of Pomalaa nickel smelter in the Pomalaa Block, Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi (27/11/2022).

“The largest HPAL (High Pressure Acid Leaching) in the world is in Indonesia and people can’t make batteries without this HPAL. So this HPAL makes an ecosystem that is very important for us,” he said.

According to cnnindonesia.com, Luhut appreciates and supports the cooperation between PT Vale Indonesia Tbk and the company Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt from China. As this cooperation will be the one who operates the Pomalaa Block nickel industrial area. Once operational begins, the smelter plant is expected to produce 120 thousand tons of nickel every year.

Luhut also explained that the company’s performance can be seen from the results of Vale’s HPAL nickel processing factory in Morowali, Central Sulawesi. Currently, production and technology are seen to have developed rapidly. Therefore, Luhut believes this project will boost HPAL production to the development of electric vehicles (EV) in Indonesia.

“This project has to go on. Because this project is building an ecosystem, not building a project. We want to build an ecosystem for one lithium battery, which later can be an electric car and so on,” said Luhut.

Reported by finance.detik.com, CEO of PT Vale Indonesia Tbk Febriany Eddy said that his party will ensure that all operational activities are under responsible investments and adhere to the principles of sustainability. PT Vale Indonesia Tbk uses HPAL technology provided by Huayou. In the future, there will be several outsourcing of Indonesian workers.

“Regarding the use of electricity. We also agreed to use electricity for factories and operations later using low-carbon energy options. For that, we don’t use coal in the factories,” he added.

The inauguration of the Pomalaa nickel smelter was carried out by groundbreaking or laying the first stone. This was symbolically carried out by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of the Republic of Indonesia Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, CEO of Vale S.A. Eduardo Bartolomeo, CEO of PT Vale Indonesia Febriany Eddy, Chairman of Huayou Zhejiang Cobalt Chen, Governor of Southeast Sulawesi Ali Mazi, and Regent of Kolaka Ahmad Safei.