Nickel Is Becoming a Battleground for Bets on Battery Future
- Top miner BHP sees nickel as a key ‘future facing’ commodity
- Billionaire Forrest bought stakes in Noront, Western Areas
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The race to supply automakers with nickel to power their batteries is pitting two of the biggest names in mining against each other.
A company owned by Australian iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest signaled its refusal to back down after a proposal to buy Canadian nickel developer Noront Resources Ltd. was trumped by the world’s biggest miner, BHP Group. And Forrest has been busy back home too: Australian nickel producer Western Areas Ltd. -- which announced this week it’s in takeover talks with a local rival -- revealed Friday the tycoon has become a substantial shareholder.