Kinterra Capital is a private equity firm that invests in and develops key critical minerals assets and strategic infrastructure necessary for the energy transition. Recently, its portfolio company NiVolt Technologies has made significant advancements towards its goal of providing nickel and cobalt products to the battery supply chain.
NiVolt has successfully produced mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and is advancing a feasibility study for a hydrometallurgical facility in the province of Quebec, Canada.
The NiVolt facility will convert nickel concentrate into MHP and nickel sulphate for the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry.
The company has made significant progress on hydrometallurgical test work to optimize process conditions and evaluate nickel concentrate material from Kinterra’s nickel projects in Quebec and Australia, as well as third-party concentrates in advance of pilot plant campaigns.
Highlights of this progress include:
- The flowsheet includes pressure oxidation (POX) leaching of nickel concentrate and intermediate MHP production to feed nickel sulphate production
- Greater than 97% nickel and cobalt POX leach recoveries have been achieved
- MHP containing over 45% nickel plus cobalt with low impurities has been produced
“Our test results have demonstrated that a high nickel and cobalt leach recovery can be achieved and that a high quality MHP can be produced,” said Cory Kosinski, VP of Projects and Evaluations for NiVolt. “We look forward to advancing to the pilot plant campaign to validate the process conditions on a continuous basis and generate the necessary process design data for the commercial plant.”
Kinterra is investing in and developing nickel sulphide projects across North America and Australia, including Magneto Investments’ Dumont Nickel Project in Quebec. Dumont is a large-scale, fully permitted, shovel-ready, nickel and cobalt mining project located in the Abitibi region of Quebec. The project has been designed with best-in-class ESG credentials supported by renewable hydroelectric energy.
“Our upstream nickel sulphide investments coupled with NiVolt have the potential to create a first-of-its-kind integrated battery raw materials solution in the Province of Quebec, which will support Quebec’s participation in the energy transition and battery supply chain,” said Cheryl Brandon, co-managing partner of Kinterra.
NiVolt is finalizing location options for the new facility within Quebec. Key considerations for the site selection included proximity to product offtakes, availability of infrastructure and utilities, and access to suitable labour markets.
“NiVolt will help to address the scarcity of critical minerals processing infrastructure in North America and Europe to meet the forecasted EV demand, all to help to further carbon emissions reduction,” said Kamal Toor, co-managing partner of Kinterra.
Filed Under: Batteries, Technology News