Suvo Strategic Minerals has consolidated its inroads into Indonesia via a non-binding joint venture (JV) agreement with a local industrial park management company to turn its stockpiles of nickel waste slag into commercially viable, low-carbon cement and concrete products using Suvo’s technology.
Suvo’s subsidiary company Climate Tech Cement has inked the joint venture agreement with PT Huadi Bantaeng Industry Park (PT HBIP), the managing company of the Bantaeng Industrial Park that churns out a lot of nickel slag as part of the local nickel pig iron operation.
Suvo has developed technology to use that waste stream - and others from different industries - to manufacture cement that produces considerably less carbon in the manufacturing process than traditional cement.
Both parties expect to reach a binding agreement on development activities, including the shareholders’ agreement, within the next 90 days.
The Bantaeng Industry Park is on the southern tip of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.
Under the agreement, PT HBIP will be responsible for sourcing and supplying the necessary nickel slag and other raw materials required for the joint venture project.
Suvo Strategic Minerals executive chairman Aaron Banks said: “We are pleased to progress our strategy in Indonesia with our new partners, PT Huadi Bantaeng Industry Park. In a short time, we have not only successfully created a formulation utilising their industrial waste (nickel slag) but we have done so creating a novel binder - a one-part low carbon geopolymer cement.”
The JV with PT HBIP will add significant scale for potential future operations, with consumption of the leading cement brand, Portland cement, within the broader region currently about 300 million tonnes to 400mt annually according to Suvo.
In an alliance with other smelters, Huadi produces about 15mt per annum of nickel slag and Banks says the JV will have the potential to lock-in the supply chains needed to supply the market with low carbon cement.
The new JV follows the inking of another 50:50 JV agreement six weeks ago between Suvo and WA-based concrete manufacturer PERMAcast to commercialise the intellectual property held by Suvo for a low-carbon “geopolymer” cement product made from processed mining waste, predominantly nickel slag.
To demonstrate its commitment to Suvo’s technology, PERMAcast executives recently contributed $300,000 to the company’s $2 million capital raising to help develop and commercialise the technology.
Suvo holds a worldwide intellectual property (IP) licence for its geopolymer cement that is considered a more climate-friendly alternative to traditional cement products.
Under the agreement, Suvo and PERMAcast will prepare and test various formulations, assess their suitability for different applications and determine the best route for commercialisation through their jointly owned special purpose vehicle.
Suvo is progressing the commercialisation of its so-called “Murdoch Technology” – a low-carbon geopolymer concrete formulation known as colliecrete – which it has licensed from Murdoch University under a worldwide and exclusive IP agreement.
Geopolymer concrete is produced by reacting aluminate and silicate bearing materials with a caustic activator such as metakaolin, fly ash, ground blast furnace slag and other waste derived materials.
It is seen as a suitable replacement for concrete made using the traditional binder, Portland cement, which is manufactured utilising a high carbon-emitting process representing 8 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions.
The latest deal in Indonesia underlines Suvo’s key strategy of producing low carbon cement across multiple sites near available waste streams where it is only limited by the waste product availability and local market for cement products.
At face value, Indonesia would appear to be a big market for cement and if Suvo can get PT HBIP to supply a solid stream of nickel waste on an ongoing basis, it just might be in a position to build its first ongoing profitable business unit.
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By Mark Story
