BHP exits $2.5 billion Tanzania nickel project, partner Lifezone says
The NYSE-listed company will acquire BHP's 17% equity interest in Kabanga Nickel Limited (KNL), the majority owner of the Kabanga Nickel Project in northwestern Tanzania, Lifezone said in a filing late on Friday.
The company issued a report on Friday that put development costs for the project at $2.49 billion. It is expected to produce around 50,000 metric tons of nickel annually once fully ramped up, a process that will take six years including construction. A final investment decision on the project is due next year.
BHP had agreed in 2022 to make an investment of as much as $100 million in the nickel mine and processing facilities if certain conditions were met.
BHP did not respond immediately to a request for comment on why it had sold its stake in the project.
The divestment comes as BHP has since shifted its view on nickel on the back of a boom in output from Indonesia in recent years. It put its Australian Nickel West operations on care and maintenance last year due to a poor outlook for nickel prices and a decision on the future of those operations is due by early 2027.
As a result the transaction, Lifezone now owns 100% of KNL, which in turn holds an 84% interest in Tembo Nickel Corporation Limited (TNCL), the Tanzanian operating company for the Kabanga Nickel Project.
The remaining 16% of TNCL is held by Tanzania's government. All existing agreements with BHP have been terminated and Lifezone has also assumed full control of 100% of the offtake from the Kabanga Nickel Project, it said.
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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
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'2025 so far has been an inflection year within enterprise generative AI as true adoption has begun by going from idea to scale as more companies are looking to invest into AI to decrease costs/increase productivity.' The comments chime with analysis from Goldman Sachs, which estimates the total addressable market for the broader software industry will expand by 'at least' 20 per cent over the next four years as so-called hyperscalers prepare to spend $1trillion per year on AI. Britain's AI trailblazers The UK currently ranks as the world's third-largest AI market, behind the US and China. The Government has been keen to talk up Britain's prospects as an AI destination though spending pledges, new policy initiatives and efforts to held build global regulatory standards. And Britain is now home to AI unicorns, such as StabilityAI, Tractable and Quantexa, though none of these is currently listed on the stock exchange. 'For investors, this creates a compelling backdrop: a mature, innovation-rich environment with global influence, analysts at Shore Capital wrote in a note. The broker has drawn up a list of UK 'trailblazers' in AI, which includes companies in a variety of sectors from retail to hospitality. But the analysts favour companies 'in the picks and shovels category of AI beneficiaries' or those where AI offers the potential 'to enhance an already positive investment'. 'These include Craneware, Eagle Eye, Kainos, Softcat and Trainline,' Shore Capital said. But is it too early for software? Research analyst for BlackRock Fundamental Equities Rowan Palmour sees the transition as part of a three-phase progress. He explains: 'Phase one is the buildout – the race to build AI's infrastructure needs. Phase two is adoption – with AI packaged into different apps and software. Phase three is transformation – where AI adoption potentially boosts productivity, creating new business models and industries.' However, Palmour believes the industry is still in 'phase one' with hyperscalers 'sticking with increased capital spending – and being rewarded for it' with bumper earnings and share price gains. He said: 'We still like the hardware makers and those sectors benefitting from the buildout. 'Utilities are key AI beneficiaries, with AI mentions in earnings calls far outpacing the S&P 500 average. 'We see this interest persisting as data centres drive soaring power demand and a greater need for flexible, reliable supply.' Goldman Sachs estimates the total addressable market for the broader software industry will expand by 'at least' 20% over the next four years Matt Ward, co-manager of the £1.2illion AXA Framlington Global Technology fund, said growing numbers of companies are starting to embrace AI to ensure their systems are prepared to handle and process 'an explosion of complexity' and growing volumes of data. However, the AI software solutions bought by firms remain largely 'niche and focused on solving specific problems at this stage', according to Ward, and there is little evidence of 'mature, horizontally applicable software that can be taken on board by large customers and deliver consistent return on investment'. He said: 'Frankly we haven't seen a singular product that is scalable in the billions of dollars of revenues. We're some way away from that.' AXA Framlington Global Technology currently allocates 32.44 per cent of its assets to semiconductor and semiconductor equipment, while software makes up 25.23 per cent, according to FE Fundinfo data. US-based cloud companies Snowflake and Datadog, and supply chain platform JFrog are among the firm's software holdings. Ward added: 'If you look at Salesforce, for example, pure AI revenues are a drop in the ocean in terms of their overall business. 'But you look at Microsoft, it's a material number now - it's not a drop in the ocean. 'It isn't a concern for us - we just think we're very early here. 'We see the money coming through and being spent, and the forecast only going up.' Gerrit Smit, head of global equity management at Stonehage Fleming Investment Management UK, says it is difficult to have 'full confidence' in much of the sector, which remains volatile and often unprofitable. His firm's focus has been on physical infrastructure names like Amphenol, which cables and connectors for data centres, as well as more established software names like Amsterdam-listed Tencent shareholder Prosus. Smit said: 'The benefits of AI are starting to be realised in different forms. Corporate AI uptake is very strong, so there's no reservation about that. 'We see it in many company presentations now, they will make a point of the difference that AI is going to make for them.'
