Indian critical minerals producer Lohum is seeking to buy nickel mines in Indonesia and the Philippines as it targets a tenfold increase in production to meet rising demand for battery minerals, its founder and chief executive said.
India is seeking to sustain its rapid economic growth with increased use of renewable energy and electric vehicles while weaning itself off Chinese supplies and developing its own sources of the critical raw materials, such as nickel, needed for the shift to greener technologies.
Lohum’s CEO Rajat Verma said the aim was to increase nickel production capacity to 10,000 metric tons of nickel a year over the next 18 months.
It currently produces 1,000 tons of nickel a year by processing recycled materials at its plant in the western state of Gujarat.
Talking to potential investors
Verma said the company sought to raise 10 billion rupees ($105 million) in equity and 20 billion rupees in debt over the next 12 to 18 months to fund its overall plans. It is in talks with potential investors, he added, declining to name them.
Depending on possible acquisitions, he said the increased nickel capacity could be even greater.
“If we are able to get access to a good quality mine then we may set up a larger capacity,” he said.
Lohum is also seeking to produce lithium, another critical mineral and plans to invest $100 million in Zimbabwe, where it has secured rights to 10 lithium mining blocks with estimated deposits of 30 million to 40 million tons of ore.
Earlier this month, Lohum made public its plans to become the first Indian company to produce lithium from an overseas asset, saying it will be processing ore into lithium sulphate in Zimbabwe before shipping it to India to be refined into higher value lithium carbonate, needed by battery makers.
As the firm seeks to provide other battery materials, Verma said Lohum was also setting up a 5,000 metric ton a year plant to make cathode active material. The plant in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is expected to be commissioned by March and will require nickel and lithium.
Lohum is also developing a lithium-ion battery-recycling plant in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, in partnership with the local government, which is expected to be operational by early next year, Verma said.
China’s dominance of supply chains is particularly marked in rare earths, which are widely distributed across the world, but can be difficult to refine commercially.
Lohum is also scouting for rare earths in Southeast Asia, Verma said, and is setting up a rare earth magnet plant, also in Uttar Pradesh, with capacity of 1,200 metric tons a year.
($1 = 95.81 rupees) (Reporting by Neha Arora and Sethuraman N R; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Barbara Lewis)
