Nickel Nation: Australia’s Bid to Power the Battery Age

Legacy Minerals and Cobalt Blue join forces to build an Australian supply chain for the global clean-energy market

4 Nov 2025

Australia’s hopes of becoming a clean-energy powerhouse have received a boost. In October 2025 Legacy Minerals and Cobalt Blue signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to explore joint work in nickel and cobalt extraction and refining. The aim is to assess how Australia might capture more value from the minerals powering the world’s electric-vehicle and renewable-energy boom.

The agreement links Legacy’s NiCo Young project in New South Wales with Cobalt Blue’s planned refinery at Kwinana in Western Australia. If realised, the partnership would connect one of the country’s most promising deposits of nickel and cobalt with a facility designed to produce high-purity cobalt and battery-grade nickel sulfate. Developed alongside Japan’s Iwatani, the Kwinana plant could help turn Australia from a mere supplier of raw ore into a producer of refined materials essential for modern batteries.

“This collaboration supports our vision of building an Australian refining network that secures local supply for global demand,” said Andrew Tong, Cobalt Blue’s managing director. Legacy’s chief executive, Christopher Byrne, called the deal “a vital step toward transforming NiCo Young into a value-adding project that benefits Australia’s energy future.”

The accord comes as countries scramble to build transparent, low-carbon supply chains. Soaring demand for electric vehicles and grid-scale storage has made secure sources of critical minerals a strategic priority. With vast reserves and political stability, Australia is well placed to benefit, particularly as allied economies seek alternatives to China’s dominance in battery materials.

Obstacles remain. Environmental approvals, transport logistics and the economics of cross-country refining will test the partners’ ambitions. Yet the idea is compelling: an integrated model that keeps more of the clean-energy dividend onshore. If successful, it could mark a modest but meaningful shift in Australia’s long struggle to move beyond exporting rocks.