FPX Nickel has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japanese companies to bolster the battery metal supply chain with a reduced environmental footprint.
The non-exclusive and non-binding MoU has been signed with the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) and Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES), which is a joint venture (JV) between Toyota Motor and Panasonic.
The MoU provides FPX and PPES with a framework to explore prospects for vertical integration of nickel production by developing FPX's Baptiste project and ensuring the production of nickel sulphate and cathode active materials for PPES’s supply chain.
Located in the Decar Nickel District in central British Columbia, Canada, the Baptiste nickel project is due to be developed in phases.
The collaboration will see the three parties share technical information and expertise while exploring potential strategic arrangements and business structures.
FPX expects potential binding agreements among the parties to provide additional funding needed to advance the Baptiste project.
FPX president and CEO Martin Turenne said: “This MoU demonstrates the strategic nature of the Baptiste project and its potential to produce an ideal nickel feedstock for the battery supply chain.
“We look forward to collaboration with our Japanese partners to support the development of North America’s critical minerals ecosystem, and to develop Baptiste in a manner that creates substantial and sustainable benefits for local communities while protecting the environment for future generations.”
FPX said there is no certainty that a binding commercial agreement will be signed among the parties.
PPES president and CEO Hiroaki Koda said: “By combining FPX’s low-carbon nickel mining process and PPES’s battery know-how and technology, we are sure to realise further decarbonisation and cost reductions in this field.”
