WEDA BAY NICKEL MINE
The Weda Bay Industrial Park on Halmahera Island is the world’s largest nickel mine. It is part of a large-scale nickel mining and industrial complex in Central Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, Indonesia. Weda Bay began operations in 2019, with deposits developed by Indonesian company PT Weda Bay Nickel. The firm is majority-owned by Strand Minerals, jointly controlled by French mining group Eramet and China’s Tsingshan.
Nickel is a critical component in electric vehicle batteries, and Indonesia is both the world’s largest producer and home to the largest known nickel reserves. While the government is pushing to expand output, concerns are mounting over the environmental damage and the impact on local communities.
Nickel deposits in the Weda Bay area were first identified in 1996. In 1997, a joint venture was formed between Canada-based Weda Bay Minerals and the Indonesian state mining company Antam, which held a 10 percent stake. In 2006, the French mining company Eramet acquired the Canadian share and announced plans to develop the project. However, due to a downturn in mineral prices, development was suspended in 2013.
In 2017, China’s Tsingshan Group signed an agreement acquiring a 57 percent stake in Weda Bay Minerals. Under this arrangement, Tsingshan assumed responsibility for mineral processing operations, while Eramet retained control over mining activities. Construction of the industrial park began in April 2018. Mining operations commenced in October 2019, followed by the start of metallurgical production in April 2020. In 2020, Eramet entered into an agreement with the German chemical company BASF to jointly develop a nickel–cobalt refinery. BASF terminated this agreement in June 2024.
Weda Bay Nickel Mining
The Weda Mine officially opened in October 2019 and has since become the world’s largest nickel mine. By 2020, four nickel ferroalloy production lines were operating within the industrial park, and construction was underway on a cobalt–nickel refining complex. A nickel sulphate plant has also been planned for the site.
During the final quarter of 2019, it produced approximately 500,000 tonnes of nickel ore. In 2021, reported mine sales exceeded 21 million wet tonnes. The ore consists of disseminated nickel occurring as fine-grained manganese–nickel silicates within laterite soils. Nickel is present primarily as garnierite and is associated with iron minerals such as limonite, magnetite, and goethite, as well as various clay minerals. The deposit formed through lateritic weathering of ultramafic rocks, including serpentinite, dunite, and peridotite.
Mining is conducted through a series of open pits, including the Kao Rahai, Sake River, Sake West, Nuspera, and Uni Uni sites. The industrial park employed approximately 11,000 workers in 2020. By early 2022, employment had increased to about 28,000 Indonesian workers and 1,800 foreign workers. By 2024, the total workforce had grown to roughly 47,000.
Deforestation and Environmental Costs of the Weda Bay Nickel Mine
Eramet says that roughly 6,000 hectares of Weda Bay Nickel’s 45,000-hectare concession will be mined over a 25-year period, and that about 2,000 hectares have already been exploited, including land used for a nickel processing plant within the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP).[Source Agnes Anya, AFP, July 16, 2024]
In 2024, Climate Rights International reported that approximately 1,400 hectares of forest have already been lost within the concession. Based on interviews with local residents, the group alleged that land near IWIP has been seized, cleared, or excavated without community consent. It also reported contamination of rivers and coastal waters by heavy metals believed to be linked to mining activity.
Eramet said it is aware of the O’Hongana Manyawa and recognizes the “critical importance” of responsible mining and Indigenous welfare. It highlighted the project’s economic benefits, including 14,000 direct jobs and more than €1.4 million in community investment spending. Environmental concerns surrounding Weda Bay helped fuel a campaign urging German chemical company BASF to abandon plans with Eramet to build a nickel-cobalt refinery in the area. The $2.6 billion project was cancelled in June 2024 though both companies cited changing market conditions rather than environmental factors. Existing operations were not affected.
Impact of Weda Bay Nickel Mine Deforestation on Uncontacted Tribe
Deforestation in the area of the Weda Bay nickel mine and processing centers is threatening an Indigenous community considered to be among the country’s last uncontacted tribes, according to rights groups. Two non-governmental organizations told AFP that mining operations in North Maluku province are endangering the O’Hongana Manyawa people by clearing forests and polluting surrounding waterways. [Source Agnes Anya, AFP, July 16, 2024]
The Weda Bay nickel mine has effectively encircled the group, said Syamsul Alam Agus of the Association of Indigenous Peoples’ Defenders. “They are surrounded… their territory is controlled,” he said.
Although some members of the community have settled over recent decades, an estimated 300 to 500 O’Hongana Manyawa continue to live as nomadic hunter-gatherers, largely isolated from the outside world. As forests shrink and food sources disappear, they are increasingly forced into contact with outsiders, raising fears of exposure to unfamiliar diseases, experts warn.
“The world has become apocalyptic for the O’Hongana Manyawa,” said Callum Russell of Indigenous rights group Survival International. He said the community is being “forced to essentially surrender” its way of life, with some members reportedly emerging from the forest to beg for food.
Videos circulating on social media in 2024 appear to show encounters between tribe members and mine workers. In one clip, two men holding spears face a bulldozer and workers; another shows a man and two women approaching workers to ask for food. AFP could not independently verify the footage, but Dewi Anakoda, a local environmental activist who describes herself as a long-time companion of the O’Hongana Manyawa, confirmed their authenticity. “It’s not them entering the concession area,” she said. “It’s Weda Bay Nickel that entered their territory. They have always lived in the forest. They say, ‘This is our land, this is our home. We never bothered you—why do you disturb us?’”
NGOs have called on the government to establish protected areas for the O’Hongana Manyawa. Dewi warned that the consequences of unchecked development extend beyond Indigenous communities. “It’s not only the O’Hongana Manyawa,” she said. “There are Halmahera’s endemic birds, other wildlife, entire habitats. In less than 20 years, our forests could be gone, and we will live with the permanent ecological damage.”
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
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Last updated January 2026