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Vale Base Metals is advancing a nickel sulphate project in Bécancour, Québec, Canada.  

This green battery supply chain project will provide a critical link in a mine-to-mobility North American supply chain for electric vehicles (EVs) that leverages our world-class assets and technical knowhow to deliver critical minerals and value-added products essential for the energy transition.

Fast facts 

The first commercially sized nickel sulphate plant within the North American market targeting the EV battery supply chain.

A greenfield project located in the industrial park in Bécancour, Québec, near planned battery supply infrastructure. 

Hydrometallurgical facility designed to process 25,000 tonnes per year of contained nickel, enough to power about 350,000 EVs annually.

Underpinned by a long-term commercial agreement.

Targeted ramp-up is subject to permitting and customer integration timing.

Leveraging high purity and low-carbon Class 1 nickel from our Canadian refineries in Sudbury and Long Harbour. 

Did you know? 

Nickel sulphate is the chemical compound used in the production of precursor cathode active materials (pCAM) for nickel-based lithium-ion batteries. pCAM is converted to cathode active materials (CAM) before being integrated into Li-ion battery cells.

Nickel Sulphate Methodology: 

  • The process starts with Base Metals high purity nickel metal, in the form of Pellets and Rounds, produced in our refineries in Sudbury and Long Harbour, Canada. 
     
  • The Pellets and Rounds are placed into a dissolution reactor and a mixture of sulphuric acid, hydrogen peroxide and clean water is continuously circulated, through the reactor and an external tank, to dissolve the nickel and turn it into a highly pure nickel sulphate solution.  
     
  • As the Pellets and Rounds are quite heavy, they form a well packed metal bed in the reactor which is yet sufficiently porous to allow excellent circulation of the dissolving solution. 
  • The dissolution is carried at moderately elevated temperatures (~60-80°C) fully utilizing the heat generated from the chemical reactions between acid, peroxide and nickel.  
     
  • The circulation of the solution through the reactor helps ensure the right temperature for the dissolution process.  
     
  • A portion of the pure nickel sulphate solution, along with some residual sulphuric acid (typically 20-30 g/L acid) is continuously withdrawn from the recirculation tank.  
     
  • The withdrawn solution is continuously replaced with fresh acid, peroxide, water and more Pellets and Rounds are added through the top of the reactor to replace the nickel being dissolved. 
     
  • The nickel sulphate solution is then purified to battery-grade quality for use in lithium EV batteries. 
The development of this process was carried out at our corporate technology centre in Mississauga, Ontario, leveraging decades of experience with nickel processing innovation, including dissolving metallic nickel to produce high purity nickel sulphate and nickel chloride at our various refineries.