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Nickel Industries (ASX:NIC) begins commissioning of Oracle Nickel power plant, Indonesia

ASX News, Materials
ASX:NIC      MCAP $3.839B
23 June 2023 16:18 (AEDT)

Source: NIC

Nickel Industries (NIC) has begun the commissioning of its 380-megawatt (MW) power plant within the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi.

The power plant forms part of the company’s 70 per cent owned Oracle nickel project in Indonesia.

Over the last several months, four Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) lines have been progressively commissioned, yet, limited power availability within the IMIP electricity grid has restricted production levels to 80 per cent.

Nickel Industries Managing Director Justin Werner said the early commissioning of the power plant would increase production levels to 130 per cent of nameplate capacity.

“In addition, we expect a significant reduction in the electricity component of the Oracle operating cash costs, which allowed our Angel nickel project to deliver margins of US$4,894 per tonne versus US$1,559 per tonne from our older Ranger Nickel lines in the March quarter,” he said.

Similar to the company’s Angel Nickel project in Indonesia’s Weda Bay Industrial Park, the Oracle Nickel RKEF lines are anticipated to benefit from savings of more than 20 per cent in electricity charges, with current electricity charges making up 25 per cent of total operating costs.

NIC shares closed 0.84 per cent lower, trading at 88.8 cents at market close.

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