Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Finland’s government decided Friday to grant new public funding for its troubled Talvivaara mine, cancelling a previous plan to permanently close what was once the European Union’s biggest nickel mine.
The unprofitable mine fell into the state’s hands in 2014, when its private operator Talvivaara Sotkamo went bankrupt after two major leaks spilt toxic levels of nickel, cadmium, uranium, aluminium and zinc into nearby lakes and rivers of the Kainuu region, situated around 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of Helsinki.
