It's very similar. Just the capex that is extremely high to extract the nickel from the laterite. You need huge chemical plants.
Capex usually aound $2 billion. What does $2 billion buy you? Check before and after pics from Ramu. If people want to compare AVQ to SIR with both producing nickel concentrate then the below operation is what you need
As you can see, Ramu is also by the ocean and from surface. In fact, most if not all nickel laterite deposits start from surface. That's standard definition.