Wyloo will sell its low-carbon nickel and nickel concentrate products to Metalshub, a company that provides software to buy, sell and trade raw materials, in a bid to set a new global standard for green nickel products.
Under a new memorandum of understanding (MoU), Wyloo will use Metalshub to sell green metal from its Kambalda nickel mines in WA – which shutdown in January due to the global nickel downturn caused by a supply surplus and an increase in nickel supplies from countries like Indonesia and China – once the operation restarts.
Both companies hope the MoU will increase transparency in the nickel sector in terms of carbon footprint, environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, and pricing and provenance in international nickel markets.
Wyloo and Metalshub also hope to develop a green price index for low-carbon nickel concentrate and nickel sulphate, which can be referenced in future sales contracts and will enable greater transparency around low-carbon nickel pricing.
“The Metalshub platform will enable nickel producers to provide provenance, carbon footprint and ESG information to customers, in an auditable form, leading to qualification under key market regulations such as the USA’s Inflation Reduction Act or the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and Battery Regulation,” Wyloo chief executive officer Luca Giacovazzi said.
“If we want car manufacturers to effectively manage their Scope 3 emissions, and to empower consumers to choose electric vehicles that are truly good for the environment, the industry must adopt transparent emission reporting across the supply chain.”
Metalshub co-founder and managing director Sebastian Kreft said while nickel plays a vital role in the global energy transition, mining and processing the critical mineral “presents significant ESG concerns” in areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, air, soil and water pollution, the destruction of ecosystems, Indigenous rights, energy use and working conditions.
“Our platform will enable mining companies and manufacturers buying metals to demonstrate that they are addressing these concerns and meeting the needs of the green energy transition in an ethical and sustainable way,” Kreft said.
“It is also another milestone on our joint journey together with the LME (London Metals Exchange) to provide producers and consumers access to our software platform to discover ‘green’ nickel premiums.
“We are excited to increase transparency around ESG credentials and CO2 (carbon dioxide) footprint – the gained transparency will give producers an opportunity to market their products with a premium.”
The MoU signage follows Giacovazzi voicing support of a ‘green price premium’, which would differentiate between the Australian-produced nickel that follows strong ESG standards and the low-quality nickel produced in countries such as Indonesia and China, in January.
“The LME is awash with pollutive nickel, which is squeezing out clean nickel from Australian producers,” Giacovazzi said as reported by The Australian Financial Review.
“We need to see structural change in nickel pricing that distinguishes between nickel products as well as their ESG credentials.”
Andrew Forrest, who owns Wyloo through his holding company Tattarang, echoed similar sentiments in July 2023.
“Wyloo has targeted nickel sulphides as they are the greenest and cheapest option for battery manufacturing. They have the best economics, can be processed into battery grade nickel with the lowest environmental footprint and are fully recyclable,” he said.
“We are going to give the market a choice between clean nickel and dirty nickel.”
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