Outokumpu has ambitious sustainability targets and also seeks to strengthen its supply chain of sustainable raw materials for the future. Therefore, the company has signed an agreement to become a shareholder in FPX Nickel Corp., with an ownership share of 9.9%.
FPX Nickel owns and develops the Baptiste nickel deposit in the Decar Nickel District located in central British Columbia. Outokumpu has agreed to invest EUR 11M in the company. With the investment, Outokumpu secures a right to a share of FPX Nickel’s future production.
The nickel contained in the Baptiste deposit is in the form of a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy called awaruite, which will generate a novel ferronickel product. This alloy can be recovered to a high-value ferronickel product using a simple process of magnetic separation and flotation, which represents certain cost and sustainability advantages in comparison to the traditional furnace smelting techniques used to produce ferronickel. Further, the proximity of the Baptiste deposit to the Canadian hydro-electric power grid will assist FPX in achieving nickel production with among the lowest carbon intensity in the global nickel industry.
