New Caledonia and Australia hold the West's largest concentration of nickel refining assets. Every one has cut capacity, gone idle, or required public capital.
New Caledonia
Closed
Glencore exited its 49% stake in 2024. SMSP could not carry operations alone and closed the site, laying off 1,200 staff and stranding a $9B asset.
New Caledonia
State life support
No profit since the $3B modernization in 2013. Eramet and SLN burned more than $200M a year from 2020 to 2026. A zero-interest state loan in January 2026 buys time while ownership is reassessed.
New Caledonia
Commissioning delays
Bought the mothballed Vale Goro assets for $1.1B and underwrote $590M of debt against a Tesla offtake. Design flaws in on-site acid production and a major tailings leak have kept it unprofitable, despite a $45M/yr French energy subsidy.
Western Australia
Throttled
Revenue fell 40% since 2022, from $1.11B to $560M. Declared a $475M tax impairment in 2026, lowering assets value close to $0.
Western Australia
Mothballed
BHP spent over $3B modernizing between 2020 and 2024, plus more than $450M a year to keep it running, then shut it with the rest of Nickel West pending a 2027 review.
Western Australia
Mothballed
Commissioned in 2021 as Australia's first battery-grade nickel sulfate plant. It never scaled past pilot volumes before closing in 2024.
Queensland
Idle since 2016
Purchased by Clive Palmer in 2014 and idle for a decade, with no buyer found and the original developers tied up in an embezzlement case.
