Japan's Mitsubishi Corp looks to invest in nickel, lithium projects

Giga Metals

13/04/2023 11:09

By Yuka Obayashi
       TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house
Mitsubishi Corp  8058.T  is looking to invest in nickel and
lithium projects to meet growing demand for electric vehicle
(EV) batteries, while boosting its copper output, the head of
its metal operations said on Thursday.
    The move comes as global push by automakers to electrify
their fleets has sparked a rush for stable supplies of lithium,
nickel and copper and other critical minerals. Demand is
expected to exceed supply by the end of the decade.
    "As global resource companies and others are looking for
lithium and nickel, we are considering to invest in the two
metals," Satoshi Koyama, Mitsubishi's mineral resources group
CEO, told an analysts meeting.
    Canada and Australia could be investment targets for nickel
as they meet both the criteria of safety from the perspective of
geopolitical risk and access to renewable power from the
perspective of decarbonisation, he said.
    Last year, Mitsubishi bought a 15% stake in a joint venture
with Giga Metals Corp  GIGA.V  to pursue the development of the
Turnagain nickel deposit in Canada.
    "We are verifying what kind of nickel projects will make it
to the profitability line, given technical hurdles and cost
issues," Koyama said.
    Mitsubishi is also looking into a number of lithium
projects.
    To develop a new mine, it must come with the downstream
operation to process the metal into raw battery material, but
whether it can be done in Australia and North America will be
the biggest challenge, Koyama said.
    Mitsubishi and its joint venture partner BHP Group  BHP.AX 
in Australia have put up for sale their Daunia and Blackwater
metallurgical coal mines in Queensland's Bowen Basin.
    "If the deal comes through, we may allocate the cash into
growth segments such as copper and battery metals," Koyama said.
    Mitsubishi, which owns a stake in five copper mines in South
America, including 40% stake in Anglo American's  AAL.L 
Quellaveco mine in Peru, wants to bolster its copper output by
expanding the existing mines and investing in new promising
projects, Koyama said. 

 (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Kim Coghill)
 ((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))