Sulphides will be cheaper to process, however the perceived...

Sulphides will be cheaper to process, however the perceived bifurcation into class 1 and class 2 nickel isn't there. It is just a matter how much one wants to pay to safeguard materials. Obviously what Chinese companies are doing in Indonesia is not about making a return on nickel production. Their objective is size and longevity.

The podcast gives a nice overview of the routes to produce battery grade nickel, and it mainly focusses on CO2 impact - mainly tied to energy use.
Sulphides --> 5 to 10 tonnes / tonne of nickel
Laterites --> 15 to 30
Nickel Pig Iron --> 50 to 70

However, let me point out two examples how this whole carbon thing works out in reality.

Case 1. Ramu Nickel mine in PNG. This is laterite nickel facility. Yet recently they announced they produce carbon neutral MHP's. How come? They bought co2 credits. I doubt they use anything else than coal based electricity, but you can buy co2 credits from across the world to mine and produce 'green'. Actually I think this is the 'a client' Lyle Trytten mentions in the podcast.

Case 2. Trafigura know how to play this green game too. They operate a zinc smelter in the Netherlands (the former Nyrstar smelter in Budel Dorplein). Recently it too announced carbon neutral zinc (well ok, they still have 2% to offset not related to the smelter itself). Which is hillarious. This smelter alone uses a whopping 5% of total Dutch electricity consumption. I am not even sure the Dutch even generate as much green electricity as a whole. There is no such thing as a green smelter. However they are. Same story, buying co2 credits (I am guessing from Norway hydro facilities). And there you are, suddenly you operate carbon neutral whilst running on Dutch gas and coal powered electricity (cheaper than Vietnam hydro power by the way)

So yeah, green production and hydropower are great. If it translates into lower cost.

So that is what BSX needs to prove to the world.