Eramet's Activities in Indonesia

Exploration

Eramet’s exploration department is responsible for sustaining and developing the Group’s mineral resources through prospecting, discovery, and the study of new deposits. This department comprises about twenty employees split between France (Eramet’s headquarters) and the Group’s key countries, including Indonesia, dedicated respectively to nickel and lithium exploration.

PT Weda Bay Nickel

In May 2006, Eramet finalized the acquisition of Weda Bay Minerals Inc., a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and owner of the world-class Weda Bay nickel deposit, located in Halmahera, the main island of North Maluku province. The project’s pre-feasibility studies, conducted by Eramet, began in July 2006.

In February 2017, to enhance this significant mining asset, Eramet’s Board of Directors approved the terms of a framework agreement with the Chinese steel group Tsingshan, the world’s largest stainless steel producer. Since the finalization of this partnership with Tsingshan, PT Weda Bay Nickel is 90% owned by Strand Minerals and 10% by the Indonesian state-owned company PT Antam Tbk. Eramet holds 43% of Strand Minerals’ shares, and the Tsingshan group, through its subsidiary Newstride Ltd Co, holds 57%. As a minority shareholder, Eramet indirectly holds 38.7% of PT Weda Bay Nickel.

PT Weda Bay Nickel’s activities include not only nickel ore extraction (the mine) but also an industrial facility for processing this ore, located in the industrial park operated by PT Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP), owned by the Tsingshan group.

The Mine

The mining concession operated by PT Weda Bay Nickel, called CoW (Contract of Work), covers an area of 47,000 hectares, including 15 identified and evaluated deposits. Their exploitation began at the end of 2019 and is conducted in open-pit mining. The exploitation permit for the deposit was obtained for a period of 30 years.

During mining operations, PT Weda Bay Nickel extracts materials and sorts them according to their future use. First, the topsoil is set aside near the extraction areas to be reused during the site’s rehabilitation and revegetation after exploitation. The waste materials, which have no industrial value, are stored in specific areas, called dumps, and rehabilitated once full. As for the nickel ores, they are classified according to their content:

• Saprolites, rich in nickel (more than 1.2 to 1.5%), are sent to PT Weda Bay Nickel’s pyrometallurgical plant (RKEF).
• Laterites, slightly less rich (between 1% and 1.3%), have been processed in IWIP’s hydrometallurgical plants (HPAL) since 2023.

These plants produce either nickel for stainless steel (NPI) or battery-grade nickel in the form of an intermediate product (MHP).

The Metallurgical Plant

PT Weda Bay Nickel’s plant produces a low-grade nickel ferroalloy (between 12 and 15% nickel content) that is directly marketable. The plant has four RKEF (Rotary Kiln Electrical Furnace) production lines. The ore is first dried using heat recovered from downstream furnaces, then calcined in inline rotary kilns, and finally melted in four EAF (Electrical Arc Furnace) electric furnaces. The plant’s annual production capacity ranges between 33 kt and 38 kt of nickel content in the form of nickel ferroalloy (depending on the nickel content of the ore consumed). The plant is located at the foot of the mining concession, in the IWIP industrial park. The industrial park, located by the sea, hosts numerous industrial activities, including other nickel processing metallurgical plants.