About 200 tonnes of nickel, 50 tonnes of copper, 80 kg of platinum group metals, 2 kg of gold and 44 kg of silver were extracted last month from low-nickel pyrrhotite product.
New draft laws put greater emphasis on agreement between Indigenous groups and developers, but the government retains the final decision in heritage disputes.
The political upheaval catches the aluminum raw materials chain at a vulnerable moment with alumina prices already surging higher due to refinery problems.