Country will keep decision even as it relaxes exports of some other minerals, the director of minerals at ministry says.

Aluminum inventories have already climbed and are forecast to surge by 5 million tonnes by the end of 2020 to 16 million.

Lithium Australia, Australian Vanadium and Mercator Metals were inspired by Chalice Gold Mines’ recent discoveries of Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization at its nearby Julimar project.

The requests come as mining waste management is increasingly scrutinised.

The drill highlights include 38 metres of 0.37% nickel and 0.17 g/t PGMs within a 315-metre interval.

The latest target is within the Haukiaho East induced polarization (IP) survey grid, which covers 1.6 km within the 17-km-long prospective Haukiaho trend.

A preliminary economic assessment of the Samapleu project estimates production of 14,100 tonnes of copper concentrate a year.