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Across Indonesia, a major drive to mine the country’s abundant natural resources is underway, leaving waste and pollution in its wake.
Swathes of rainforest and coastal communities are being destroyed by a nickel mining boom in Indonesia sparked by the race to transition away from fossil fuels. [emphasis, links added]
Across the country, a major drive to exploit the country’s abundant natural resources is underway. …
Rows of chimneys, belching smoke and fumes, tower over the schools and houses of what were once rural communities in scenes recalling the work of L.S. Lowry, whose paintings captured life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century.
Indonesia is now the world’s largest nickel producer, with 15 percent of the globe’s lateritic nickel resources – typically low-grade deposits found near the surface.
But demand is still soaring in tandem with the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), which depend on it for their batteries.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that global demand for the metal will grow at least 65 percent by 2030, and EVs and battery storage are set to take over from stainless steel as the largest end-user of nickel by 2040.
Billion-dollar Chinese firms anchor the nickel market in Indonesia, but they are often fed cheap ore by hundreds of smaller, mostly locally-owned mines that dot the rainforest.
These mines have transformed once-peaceful agrarian villages and communities, providing economic opportunity but a health and environmental crisis looms from pollution.
In just three years, Indonesia has signed more than a dozen deals worth more than $15 billion for battery materials and electric vehicle production with global manufacturers including Hyundai, LG, and Foxconn.
Surface mining for nickel. Image via TaiwanPlus News screencap
In 2021, Indonesia unveiled a new nickel smelter in the North Morowali Regency of Central Sulawesi. It has been equipped to process 13 million tons of nickel ore annually.
Sulawesi, an Indonesian island east of Borneo, is a peaceful land known for its pristine coral reefs, dive sites, and prehistoric cave paintings. But it is fast becoming an industrial heartland.
The chimneys of PT Obsidian Stainless Steel, a nickel processing complex, spew smoke into the air 24 hours a day, with flames lighting up the night sky.
The land in Molawe district – once filled with vibrant fishing villages – is peppered with craters left by large-scale mining.
Waiting to be processed. Image via TaiwanPlus News screencap
The coastline has been abandoned.
Sandy beaches are discolored with a kaleidoscope of ore pigments and dotted with jetties where barges wait to deliver nickel ore.
After sunrise in the village of Labola, thousands of workers on scooters, clad in yellow helmets and dust-stained overalls, thronged the pothole-ridden main road.
The mass of traffic crawled toward the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, better known as IMIP, the heart of the country’s nickel production.
IMIP primarily processes nickel ore for stainless steel but now is increasingly producing higher-grade nickel for electric vehicle batteries.
Top image via TaiwanPlus News screencap
Read rest at MSN
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