AUZ Chart, page-4439

Mbot SKI are far from securing their sulphate needs.Yes they have positioned themselves in a supply chain that can be traced all the way back to the Chinese govt which may well lead to a robust supply however actual, guaranteed supply is some way off.

From what I can gather the abbreviated situation may be close to this. Seeking to replicate their success of the Ramu Nickel HPAL project in the PNG, the Chinese connections who built it have the ambitious goal of duplicating it within Morowali Industrial Park Sulawesi, Indonesia in a very short (for Ni HPAL) space of time. Massive tonnage of NPI has been the primary commodity produced up until now but the developing market of metal sulphates is what is being targeted. Snippets of information have been read regarding a scale demonstration plant having produced what they want and the intention is to scale it up. Funds that built the two thermal coal power stations soon to be three, port facilities and soon to be completed airport that serve the ‘park’ were provided through loans by the China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Export-Import Bank China and Bank of China. From that there’s little doubt as to who gets the lions share of benefit from these facilities imo.

Of course these primary beneficiaries require customers and that’s where Ecopro et al come in, provided HPAL can achieve success, note Glencore Goro plant. This is where the market is evolving towards. I’ve always been of the opinion that SKI will naturally spread the risk in its procurement sources and still think they will (especially considering relationship with US/China/tensions)

Imo it’s prudent to be abreast of developments if intending to invest capital in this space.