Electric Vehicle (EV) METALS

In Partnership With:

Background

EV Metals Group plc is a clean energy metals company based in Perth, Western Australia. They are focused on the evaluation and development of the EV Metals Project. The EV Metals Project envisages the operation of plant and facilities for the production of high purity nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) products, such as nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate, as advanced materials for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage facilities (ESF) from the mining and processing of Range Well Ni Co Resources in the Murchison Province of the Mid West Region of Western Australia.
RIWAQ has successfully signed an agreement with EV Metals group to partially acquire some of the company’s share which owns the licenses for an existing mine in Australia. The agreement plans to build a battery metals and chemicals business through the evaluation and development of BFS for the EV Project.
The EV Project will consist of two fronts:

  1. The production of high grade intermediate products containing Ni, Co, Mn and other metals produced from upstream integration of the supply chain including mining and processing of the mine Resources (“Battery Metals Plant”) in Australia for downstream processing at the Battery Chemicals Plant located in Saudi Arabia.
  2. The production of high purity chemicals containing Ni, Co, Mn and other metals required for cathode active materials for rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles and energy storage systems at a battery chemicals plant in a strategic location in Saudi Arabia (“Battery Chemicals Plant (Refinery)”).

Opportunity Overview

  • Global stainless steel demand for Ni consumes over 67% of new mine Ni supply per year.
  • Eight Nickel Laterite Projects in production worldwide and None produce high purity battery grade chemicals.
  • The Mine is the third largest Ni Laterite PAL Project based on Ni contained in Minerals Resources.
  • The Range Well Ni Co Resources contain over 2.47Mt of Ni and 0.15Mt of Co which represent the largest inventory of Ni and Co in a single undeveloped Ni Co iron oxide-silica deposit in Australia.
  • Preliminary financial modelling indicates that the New Energy Chemicals Refinery based on the EV Metals Project has an NPV of US$1.43 billion to produce approximately 25,000 tonnes per year of Ni in sulphate and approximately 2,000 tonnes per year of Co in sulphate for the first 25 years of project life.
  • Develop alternative and localised supply chain for critical raw materials for battery chemicals in Saudi Arabia.
  • To benefit from our partners’ expertise to access technical capabilities and technology to find deposits of critical raw materials in Saudi Arabia.

Project Status

RIWAQ has successfully raised partial funds (Phase #1) to start the BFS process of the mine in Australia and the plant in KSA. Phase #2 of fund raising is expected to be completed in Q2 of 2021.