PT Vale Indonesia Tbk has started construction on a $2.48bn integrated low-carbon nickel mining and processing project in Central Sulawesi, reported Reuters, citing an Indonesian senior minister. 

This ferronickel smelter is being built in Sambalagi Village, Bungku Pesisir District, Morowali Regency. The Bahodopi project will be equipped to produce ferronickel with 73,000tpa to 80,000tpa of nickel content. The smelter is expected to create up to 15,000 jobs during the construction phase.

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has signed a mining convention with the Gabonese Republic for its Belinga iron-ore project. Signed by FMG’s incorporated joint venture company Ivindo Iron SA, the convention governs all the fiscal, legal, and regulatory rules for the 4,500km² area, which comprises the Belinga Project. 

With plans to undertake the first mining at the project during the second half of this year, Fortescue expects the convention to unlock growth opportunities for the firm throughout Africa. Fortescue said the Belinga project requires a $200m capital investment for the early-stage operation.

South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater has received an environmental permit for the Rapasaari mine and Päiväneva concentrator at the Keliber lithium project in Finland. 

This permit has been issued by the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland. The firm submitted two separate permit applications for the Rapasaari mine and Päiväneva concentrator in 2021. However, the applications were subsequently combined into a single permit by the agency.

European lithium refiner Livista Energy and African miner CAA Mining will collaborate to build a conversion facility in Takoradi, western Ghana, reported Reuters. 

The proposed facility will be equipped to convert spodumene, a mineral with lithium content, into an intermediary lithium chemical. The spodumene for the facility will be produced in Ghana, and the lithium product would then be exported for further refining to the company’s European plant.