Sorowako mine explained

Sorowako Mine
Pushpin Map:Indonesia Sulawesi
Subdivision Type:Province
State/Province:Sulawesi
Country:Indonesia
Owner:Mining Industri Indonesia (MIND ID) 34%
Vale Canada 33.9%
Sumitomo Metal Mining 11.5%
Others 20.6%[1]
Type:surface
Discovery Year:1901
Acquisition Year:2024
Products:Nickel-in-matte
Financial Year:2023
Amount:US$1,232 million
Opening Year:1978

The Sorowako mine is a large open pit lateritic nickel mine in the east of Indonesia in the Verbeek Mountains of Sulawesi (the Celebes).[2] It lies just south of Lake Matano. As of 2023, Sorowako is one of the largest nickel mines in the world[3] with proven and probable nickel reserves of 107 million tonnes of ore grading 1.70% nickel, containing 1.81 million tonnes of nickel metal.[4]

History

Nickel was first discovered at Sorowako in 1901 by the Dutch missionary, ethnographer, and amateur mineralogist, Albert Kruyt.[5] In 1915, the Dutch mining engineer Eduard C. Abendanon confirmed that report.[6] In 1934, H. R.‘Flat’ Elves, an Inco geologist, dug test pits and did a feasibility study.

In 1968, Inco, as PT Inco, received the mining concession in Sorowako and began mapping and exploratory analysis.[7] In 1977, it opened a smelter and the following year began commercial production, in April 1978.[8]

In 2006 when Vale S.A. purchased Inco,[9] PT Inco (Indonesian Inco) was reorganized with changed percentages of ownership and became PT Vale (Vale Indonesia), a subsidiary of Vale S.A.

Mine

The mine is an open pit surface mine. The ore is smectite containing disseminated nickel as fine-grained manganese-nickel silicates in a laterite profile.[10] [11] The major nickel mineral is garnierite.

The ore is treated in a co-located processing plant to produce an intermediate nickel-in-matte product used in the manufacture of refined nickel. The 2023 annual ore production was 13,452,663 tonnes (2022: 11,552,911 tonnes) to produce 70,728 tonnes of nickel matte (2022: 60,090 tonnes). The matte has an average content of 78% nickel, 1%-2% cobalt, and 20%-21% sulphur. Total sales of nickel matte in 2023 were US$1,232 million.[4]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sumitomo Metal Mining Announces PTVI Divestment Agreement with MIND ID . Sumitomo Metal Mining . 7 May 2024 . 27 February 2024.
  2. Web site: Sorowako Mine (PT International Nickel mine; Soroaka Mine; Soroako Mine), Soroako (Sorowako), South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia . MinDat . https://web.archive.org/web/20221104065250/https://www.mindat.org/loc-19161.html . 4 November 2022 . live .
  3. Web site: The world’s ten largest nickel mines . 26 April 2024 . Mining Technology . 7 May 2024 .
  4. Web site: 2023 Annual Report . PT Vale Indonesia . 7 May 2024 . 43 . 30 April 2024.
  5. Book: Arif . Irwandy . 2018 . Nikel Indonesia . Jakarta . Gramedia Pustaka Utama . id . 35 . 978-602-06-1935-4 .
  6. Bobbette . Adam . 18 August 2022 . In Sorowako . London Review of Books . 44 . 16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220824163925/https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n16/adam-bobbette/short-cuts . 24 August 2022 . live .
  7. Web site: Karonsi'e Dongi people and Vale mine in Sorowako, Sulawesi, Indonesia . 20 March 2019 . Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas) . https://web.archive.org/web/20230529055559/https://ejatlas.org/conflict/karonsie-dongi-people-and-vale-mine-in-sorowako-sulawesi-indonesia . 29 May 2023 . live .
  8. Web site: PT International Nickel Indonesia Tbk 2007 Annual Report . Vale . https://web.archive.org/web/20231114204536/https://www.vale.com/documents/d/guest/annual-report-2007 . 14 November 2023 . live .
  9. Book: Denison, Daniel R. . etal . 2012 . Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations: Aligning Culture and Strategy . San Francisco, California . Jossey-Bass (Wiley) . 141 . 978-1-118-23510-2 .
  10. Sufriadin . Arifudin Idrus . etal . 2011 . Thermal and Infrared Studies of Garnierite from the Soroako Nickeliferous Laterite Deposit, Sulawesi, Indonesia . Indonesian Journal of Geology . 7 . 2 . 77–85 .
  11. Ilyas . Asran . Kashiwaya . Koki . Koike . Katsuaki . 2016 . Ni grade distribution in laterite characterized from geostatistics, topography and the paleo-groundwater system in Sorowako, Indonesia . Journal of Geochemical Exploration . 165 . 174–188 . 10.1016/j.gexplo.2016.03.002 .

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