The Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) in partnership with Process Research ORTECH (PRO) (Canada) hosted a joint venture agreement signing ceremony of a partnership in a mineral beneficiation (Critical Battery Metals) project on Tuesday the 12th of July at the Phakalane Golf Estate Hotel and Conference Centre.
Subsequent to the signing of the joint venture agreement, joint venture partners for the project were unveiled. The partners will collectively make a business investment to set up a 30 000 metric tonnes per year plant in Botswana that would produce high-grade nickel and cobalt salts to be used in the production of electric vehicle batteries and other renewable energy storage batteries.
The project encompasses the beneficiation aspect captured in the Botswana Government’s reset agenda, which aims to ensure that local natural resources are used to establish upstream and downstream supply chain activities. The benefits of the move include the establishment of companies that add value to locally sourced raw materials, the enhancement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines that can spawn successful careers and businesses, and the growth of the local economy.
