1 September 2020

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Analysts predict that Indonesia will account for almost all of the growth in nickel supplies over the next decade [...] [b]ut a number of Chinese-backed projects in the country plan to dump mine waste containing metals such as iron into the sea, in an area renowned for its unique coral reefs and turtles.

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[...] [C]onverting rock that contains about 1 per cent nickel into a form suitable for batteries produces large amounts of waste. If all the announced projects in the North Maluku and Central Sulawesi areas go into production they could produce 50m tonnes of waste a year, according to Mr Brown.

The Harita Group, which is building a project on central Obi Island backed by China’s Ningbo Lygend, has said it is conducting a feasibility study on disposing of the waste at more than 200 metres below sea level, from where it will flow to the seabed. Harita did not respond to a request for comment.

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French nickel producer Eramet has called for the practice to be banned. The company is investing in a nickel project in Weda Bay in Indonesia but will build a dam on land that will store dry waste, it said.

“The European and American markets will not accept this solution,” said Samuel Dufay, Eramet’s vice-president for environment, referring to deep-sea disposal.

Environmental activist Pius Ginting of AEER, an Indonesian non-governmental organisation, said many companies were choosing the method because it was cheaper than an inland waste dam. But he noted that it threatens to damage an area known as the Coral Triangle that is rich in coral reefs and tropical fish.

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