Andrew Forrest's Wyloo looks for more nickel deals as it seals Mincor buy

Mincor Resources NL

05/07/2023 05:26

By Melanie Burton
       MELBOURNE, July 5 (Reuters) - Wyloo Metals, the
privately held battery resources unit of Australia iron ore
baron Andrew Forrest, sees room to grow in nickel as it closes
out its A$750.3 million ($501.4 million) buyout of miner Mincor
Resources  MCR.AX , its CEO said. 
    Wyloo has breached the 90% holding in Mincor for compulsory
acquisition, it said on Wednesday, and the takeover is expected
to be sealed in coming weeks. 
    A key attraction for the buyout is Mincor's Cassini nickel
sulphide deposit in Western Australia's Kambalda region that
raises Wyloo's Australian exposure to the battery material.
    The Kambalda nickel mining district was pegged out decades
ago by Western Mining Corp, an Australian mining behomoth that
was acquired by BHP Group  BHP.AX  in 2005. The region is now
home to several operators.
   "We do like the idea of bringing it back together," Wyloo CEO
Luca Giacovazzi said of the prospect of consolidating the
district. "Do we have appetite to do more deals? I’m always
going to answer the same way: Yes."
   "Nickel is a big focus for us. I wouldn’t say it’s just
nickel but I would say nickel is our main focus," he added. 
    Wyloo expects to build on Mincor's five-year mine life given
the nature of Kambalda's geology that makes it the country's top
nickel district, he said.
    As well as BHP, Widgie Nickel  WIN.AX  and Lunnon Metals
 LM8.AX  also have nickel projects in Kambalda.
    Nickel makes batteries energy dense so cars can run further
on a single charge. Sulphide deposits are seen as greener than
laterite deposits found in top producer Indonesia because they
require less power to process than laterite alternatives that
are often processed using coal.
    Mincor's nickel resources could help feed a A$600 million to
A$1 billion precursor battery chemicals processing plant that
Wyloo is planning to build with miner IGO  IGO.AX  in the
country's west, and that it hopes to make a call on next year,
Giacovazzi said.
    Australia is looking to build a critical minerals processing
industry to reap more value from the electric vehicle battery
chain.    
    Wyloo elbowed out BHP to buy Canada's Noront Resources
 NOT.V , which holds the high-grade nickel sulphide deposit
Eagle's Nest, for C$617 million in late 2021. It also holds
interests in copper and rare earths. 
    ($1 = 1.4963 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Jamie Freed)
 ((melanie.burton@thomsonreuters.com Twitter: @MelanieMetals;
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