DLA Piper advises BASF on a cooperation agreement with Eramet

DLA Piper has advised DAX company BASF on the signing of an agreement with Eramet to jointly assess the development of a state-of-the-art nickel and cobalt hydrometallurgical refining complex to supply the growing electric vehicle market. Such a development would include a High-Pressure Acid Leaching (“HPAL”) plant and a Base Metal Refinery (BMR). The HPAL would be located in Weda Bay, Indonesia, while the location of the BMR will be determined during the feasibility study.

The HPAL plant will process locally secured mining ore from the Weda Bay deposit to produce a nickel and cobalt intermediate. The mining operations started at the end of 2019. The BMR will supply nickel and cobalt to produce precursor cathode active materials (PCAM) and then cathode active materials (CAM) for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles.

Securing access to raw materials, especially nickel, is a critical component to support the strong growth in the global electric vehicle value chain. The planned development will provide BASF access to an additional secure source of 42,000 metric tons of nickel and 5,000 metric tons of cobalt annually from mines operating according to internationally recognized sustainability standards. The percentage of cathode materials with high nickel content is increasing to meet the demand for batteries with higher energy density and to reduce the overall cost of batteries.

The project targets a start-up of the HPAL and BMR facilities in the mid-2020s and will commence in the first phase feasibility study with limited funding.

The DLA Piper team was led by Corporate partner Carlos Robles y Zepf and also included partner Dr. Burkhard Führmeyer (IPT) as well as senior associates Niklas Mangels, Dr. Christian Marzlin (both Corporate/M&A) and Miray Kavruk (IPT, all Frankfurt). A DLA Piper team in Singapore also advised on the project.

The in-house legal team at BASF was led by Dr. Benjamin Schmidt.