A life cycle assessment of Blackstone Minerals' proposed upstream and downstream nickel business has confirmed its process of producing nickel-cobalt-manganese precursor products will be one of the greenest pathways to supply the growing lithium-ion battery industry. The study found Blackstone’s flagship Ta Khoa project could produce 1kg of precursor cathode active material at a cost of 9.8kg of carbon dioxide equivalent, substantially lower than the industry average of 16.1kg.
Whilst Blackstone hails its 9.8kg figure as an excellent result its eyes remain set on a zero emissions target and has highlighted several opportunities to reduce its emissions even further to 6.3kg carbon dioxide equivalent per 1kg of precursor.
Vietnam has an immense and innate capacity for hydropower, a characteristic not currently factored into the life cycle calculation as Blackstone has yet to secure a ‘power purchase agreement’ with an appropriate power supplier.
Once an agreement is secured the company anticipates shaving off a further 2.4kg of carbon equivalent per 1kg of precursor material produced.
Similarly, Blackstone is contemplating switching out the cobalt sulphate in its flow sheet for cobalt hydroxide potentially yielding a reduction of 0.7kg in carbon equivalent per 1kg of precursor.
The company is also exploring the option of producing its quota of oxygen via electrolysis of water, potentially taking off another 0.4kg of carbon equivalent and simultaneously producing a green hydrogen by product in the process.
In simple terms, electrolysis describes the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Other potential reduction measures are currently under analysis and yet to be quantified.
The independent life cycle study was conducted by London-based consultancy Minviro that has previously produced assessments for the revolutionary automotive and clean energy company Tesla, Vulcan Energy Resources, Pilbara Minerals and Syrah Resources.
The study used data from Blackstone’s scoping and prefeasibility studies into the upstream and downstream segments of its proposed venture.
On completion the assessment was then subject to a third party review by a panel of three industry experts.
The results of the study will be used to guide Blackstone’s environmentally informed decision making in the design, construction, inputs and processes of its upstream and downstream nickel business.
Blackstone Minerals Managing Director Scott Williamson said: “The decision to undertake this assessment reflects Blackstone’s commitment to minimising its environmental footprint through its design process and to understand the most impactful and efficient pathways to achieve this.”
A life cycle assessment is a quantitative analysis of global and local environmental impacts related to a product or process and can be performed on a pre-developed or operational project.
This type of assessment has become widespread and is often used to identify environmental hotspots where mitigation strategies can be applied.
In a life cycle assessment of alternatively fuelled vehicles solicited by the European Commission it was found that building a battery-powered electric vehicle is about 1 and a half times more carbon intensive than building a conventional vehicle.
Despite the higher initial burden due to the upstream processes required to source battery metals, it is thought an electric fleet will lead the charge to net-zero by 2050 — providing the electricity used to charge the fleet was generated through renewable sources.
Given nickel is the third weightiest component in an electric vehicle battery pack, any opportunity to cull emissions from the metal’s up and down streams appears a worthwhile battle.
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