Speaking at the Australian Nickel Conference, NiCo general manager Fergus Kiley noted the decision of the neighboring, newly unveiled West Musgrave development to involve a large renewable power generation component.

The requirement to use renewable or green power in the mining industry appears an incontrovertible force, with another speaker at the conference, the impressive Michael Taylor of EV Metals Group, more or less suggesting no country (read China) or company would be able to deliver products in the EV-battery space without full supply-side transparency.  

Meanwhile, NiCo is also looking at the opportunity to produce cathode anode material for the ever-burgeoning battery sector, and the potential to also produce manganese at Wingellina, another input in the battery scene and previously considered a penalty in the project's output.

The company said capital and operating costs for the potential 40,000t per annum nickel and 3500tpa cobalt opportunity in the Central Musgrave region of Western Australia were "in-line with expectations".

Whichever way you cut it, the capital required for Wingellina will likely be eye-watering on a headline basis given feasibility work in 2008 came up with a US$1.8 billion number.

However, with major production over 40-100 year mine life in the jurisdiction of Australia, it would appear near-inconceivable that this mine won't be built.

Nico was capitalised this week at A$48 million.