Karora Resources Inc T.KRR

Indonesia is the monkey wrench

[MaterialsMan]

It's being reported that its mining ministry is considering curtailing the production quotas for nickel.
Indonesia's overproduction has been responsible for the weakness in the price of nickel.
The quotas until now have been set on an annual basis. The ministry wants to extend it out to a period of three years. Supposedly, that would be less of a hassle for the mining companies.
My suspicion is that entities that produce and refine nickel are putting the pressure on to reduce production to firm up the price.
And, extending to three years would take away the yearly threat of raising quotas.
Seems as though it would benefit the nickel industry overall.
It should be a no brainer.
It could be unfortunate that the quotas are already in place for '24. That would make it more difficult for companies like BHP to decide about near term plans like whether to mothball the Kalgoorlie refinery.
Perhaps if a decision is made to reduce the quotas, BHP could eat the loses for another year and keep the plant open.
Be nice if that happens.

[cleareye]

Materials Man, Thanks for hammering on this nickel refinery issue. It wasn't on my radar. Do you have a feeling for the probability that BHP will close vs. upgrade this refinery? Is an upgrade of the BHP refinery necessary for continued production? Are there other alternatives? Thanks again, cleareye.

[cleareye]

Just to add to my previous post, I read about BHP's refinery and I only see investment being pumped into it. Do you have concerns? I must say that BHP's emphasis on woke stuff is pretty thick. However, if their target market is EV's and batteries in general I understand their commitment and flourish in that area. I will be interested to know why you have been focussed on the nickel

[Rainman01]

My understanding is that the over supply of nickel cannot be stopped because of a election that changed the outcome of environmental act to protect a very fragile ecosystem. In Indonesia. They are full steam ahead and no signs of slowing up the destruction of land to get as much nickel as possible. It is very low grade and needs lots of refining to make it usable. China are refurbishing copper