Vale Investing $1.7 Billion in Nickel Mine Amid Battery Boom

  • Investment would extend life of the mine by at least 15 years
  • Selling future cobalt production seen as funding option

A truck carries nickel ore out of a open-cut nickel mine.

Photographer: Ron D'Raine/Bloomberg
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The world’s biggest nickel producer is betting C$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion) that the metal has a bright future amid surging demand for battery commodities.

With the Voisey’s Bay nickel complex in Canada getting toward the end of its open-pit life, Vale SA is moving ahead with a transition to underground operations, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball said in as ceremony on Monday attended by Eduardo Bartolomeo, Vale’s head of base metals.