PT Vale Indonesia Tbk said on Monday that it would cooperate with two Chinese mining companies to jointly process limonite nickel ore in Indonesia, to support the country's ambition for greater nickel downstream processing and to establish a thriving domestic electric vehicle supply chain.

The company signed a Definitive Cooperation Agreement with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd and PT Huali Nickel Indonesia on Friday to construct high-pressure acid leaching facilities that target 60,000 tons of nickel and around 5,000 tons of cobalt per annum in mixed hydroxide precipitate products, which can be further processed into electric vehicle batteries.

The project will process limonite nickel ore from the Sorowako block and the high-pressure acid leaching facilities will be located in Malili, East Luwu, South Sulawesi, it said.

"This co-operation is in line with Indonesia's vision to build a domestic EV ecosystem and make PT Vale an important contributor toward addressing the world's decarbonization challenge, with an investment that will generate local economic benefits and ensure the optimal utilization of Indonesia's nickel resources," said Febriany Eddy, CEO of PT Vale Indonesia.

"PT Vale and the partners' commitment to low carbon along with PT Vale demonstrated sustainable mining practices will make this a world class project."

Chen Xuehua, chairman of Huayou, said the cooperation is another combination of Huayou Cobalt's world-leading, green and low-carbon high-pressure acid leaching technology, Indonesia rich nickel resource advantage and PT Vale's sustainable mining practices.

Through the cooperation, Huayou will add strength to the development of the new energy industry and contribute to the global EV industry and its supply chain, he said.

[email protected]