Value-added analysis of the electric vehicle battery industry in Indonesia

The establishment of the Indonesian Battery Corporation is a step forward to make Indonesia a global player in the electric vehicle battery industry. This state-owned consortium is mandated to develop an integrated electric vehicle battery industry ecosystem from upstream to downstream. Indonesia has around six companies developing High-Pressure Acid Leach processing and refining projects. Battery production for Indonesian electric vehicles is estimated to contribute approximately 12.7% to the global market by 2035. A value-added analysis approach model is estimated to increase Gross Domestic Product by $21,434 billion. In addition, the impact on job creation is around 42,603 people. This estimation can be implemented with some supports, such as partners with proven technology and significant capital to build the precursor and cathode industries, battery cell and battery industries, and the electric vehicle industry and policies related to development.

Basic Sulfate Precipitation of Zirconium from Sulfuric Acid Leach Solution

H2SO4 was ensured to be the best candidate for Zr leaching from the eudialyte. The resulting sulfuric leach solution consisted of Zr(IV), Nb(V), Hf(IV), Al(III), and Fe(III). It was found that ordinary metal hydroxide precipitation was not feasible for obtaining a relatively pure product due to the co-precipitation of Al(III) and Fe(III). In this reported study, a basic zirconium sulfate precipitation method was investigated to recover Zr from a sulfuric acid leach solution of a eudialyte residue after rare earth elements extraction. Nb precipitated preferentially by adjusting the pH of the solution to around 1.0. After partial removal of SO42− by adding 120 g of CaCl2 per 1L solution, a basic zirconium sulfate precipitate was obtained by adjusting the pH to ~1.6 and maintaining the solution at 75 °C for 60 min. Under the optimum conditions, the loss of Zr during the SO42− removal step was only 0.11%, and the yield in the basic zirconium sulfate precipitation step was 96.18%. The precipitate contained 33.77% Zr and 0.59% Hf with low concentrations of Fe and Al. It was found that a high-quality product of ZrO2 could be obtained from the basic sulfate precipitate.

Lead Isotopes in Exploration for Basement-Hosted Structurally Controlled Unconformity-Related Uranium Deposits: Kiggavik Project (Nunavut, Canada)

Pb-isotopes have been proposed as pathfinders for sandstone-hosted unconformity-related U deposits, with isotope ratios providing information on mineralization timing and element remobilization and migration. Pb-isotopes proximal to mineralization display radiogenic signatures, often with ‘excess Pb’ suggestive of derivation from greater U concentrations than are currently present. The U deposits in the Kiggavik project area (west of Baker Lake, NU, Canada) are basement-hosted, contain several generations of pitchblende mineralization, display a strong structural control, and are located in fault-related fracture systems and foliation-parallel veinlets. Drill core samples were analysed by Inductively-Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) for Pb isotopes following multi-acid total-digestion, reverse Aqua Regia partial-digestion, and weak-acid-leach attacks, to evaluate the utility of the respective dissolution methods in Pb-isotope pathfinder geochemistry. Partial-digestion results are similar to weak-acid-leach results, indicating that interpretation of Pb-isotope signatures can be carried out from partial-digestion data if weak-acid-leach data are unavailable. Application of this pathfinder method at Kiggavik shows that Pb-isotope ratios display systematic trends useful for exploration vectoring. Uranium-content-adjusted 206Pb/204Pb ratios and 206Pb/204Pb ‘excess-lead’ data highlight anomalous isotopic values. 207Pb/206Pb ratios display downhole trends complementary to location of mineralization. Three-dimensional (3D) distributions of Pb-isotope data at the Contact U prospect show systematic trends and form halos around the mineralization. Isotopic footprints are limited to <50 m from the mineralization outline, reflecting host-rock and structural control, but indicate areas with elevated potential for U mineralization and provide vectoring information within basement lithologies.