The Independence Group, an Australian mining company that plans to produce chemicals used in electric vehicle batteries, said on Wednesday that it was in talks with a number of potential buyers of these products.
According to the company's CEO Peter Bradford, the mid-level miner tested the production of chemical nickel sulphate for batteries in December and January, and now he intends to send samples to potential customers and partners.
With a capitalized value of AUD 2.7 billion (1.93 billion US dollars), Independence is exploring the possibility of building a chemical plant in the state of Western Australia.
Australia is a major supplier of materials for the battery industry amid a boom in demand for electric cars.
Such partners may include companies that offer expertise in the processing of chemicals, as well as firms that are obligated to buy supplies in exchange for advance capital under sale agreements.
Another global company in Australia, BHP Group, is planning to launch a nickel sulphate plant in Western Australia this year with a capacity of 22,000 tons per year.
But such projects may face increasing competition from Indonesia, where in the last quarter of 2018 plans were announced to implement three major projects for the production of nickel chemicals.
The Independence Group produced 14428 tons of nickel in the first half of the fiscal year that began in July, which is about a third of BHP production over the same period.
