Western Australia is one of the world’s mining epicentres but transitioning to turning raw materials into a manufacturing commodity makes good economic sense.
That’s why the Government in WA is investing $900,000 in the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre. In a new Cathode Precursor Production Pilot which is intended to initiate a move towards manufacturing.
So what are the specific aims of the pilot?
The aim is to produce high quality nickel, cobalt and manganese for producing precursor cathode active materials (PCAM).
PCAM is a form of advanced chemical manufacturing and is a key material used in lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles.
Obviously this can have exponential growth potential, however, at present WA simply exports all the minerals needed to make a battery. This initiative however, will investigate adding the next stage in the process and taking it to a manufacturing stage.
This graduation up the supply chain makes commercial sense and could form the template for other transitions towards manufacturing. For the full story see the article in Manufacturers’ Monthly here.