Indonesia considering revoking environmental permit of nickel company after fatal landslide

Indonesia is considering revoking the environmental permit of PT QMB New Energy Materials, a nickel and cobalt joint venture led by China’s GEM, on the island of Sulawesi after a landslide hit a mine waste zone at its nickel processing hub, environment minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said on Monday.

The landslide occurred last week in a tailings area run by PT QMB, a tenant of PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), and was suspected to have been caused by soft soils. It killed one local contractor, IMIP said.

Environment minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq was quoted by state news agency Antara on Monday as saying that the ministry is considering revoking the permit due to repeated fatal incidents.

“We’re doing a thorough assessment, we will immediately formulate plans to revoke the environmental permit,” he said.

QMB was forced to suspend almost all production in March 2025 after a deadly landslide left four workers buried under nickel mine waste.

PT IMIP is the largest nickel-processing hub in resource-rich Indonesia and has over 50 tenants, mainly makers of nickel products used in stainless steel and EV battery materials, according to the company website.

Chinese steelmaker Tsingshan Holding Group is among PT IMIP’s shareholders.

Neither Tsingshan nor GEM responded immediately to requests for comment on Monday.

Hanif did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(By Stanley Widianto; Editing by David Stanway)