North Maluku Holds the Largest Nickel Reserves in Indonesia

Indonesia holds 5.3 billion tons of nickel ore reserves as of 2024. This aligns with data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, as reported by *Katadata*.

Director General of Minerals and Coal Tri Winarno stated that these reserves consist of low-grade nickel ore (saprolite) and high-grade nickel ore (limonite).

"Saprolite accounts for 60%, limonite approximately 40%," said Tri in a hearing with Commission XII of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday (November 13, 2024).

According to Tri's presentation, North Maluku has the largest nickel ore reserves in Indonesia, reaching 1.86 billion tons. This is followed by Southeast Sulawesi with 1.66 billion tons, and Central Sulawesi with 805 million tons.

The complete figures are as follows:

North Maluku

* Ore resources: 5,717,914,534 tons
* Metal resources: 72,037,746 tons
* Ore reserves: 1,868,998,369 tons
* Metal reserves: 19,093,939 tons

Southeast Sulawesi

* Ore resources: 6,265,345,140 tons
* Metal resources: 64,700,314 tons
* Ore reserves: 1,688,484,362 tons
* Metal reserves: 18,168,086 tons

Central Sulawesi

* Ore resources: 3,040,545,497 tons
* Metal resources: 32,546,434 tons
* Ore reserves: 805,228,792 tons
* Metal reserves: 9,074,020 tons.

(Also read: [Indonesia Raises Nickel Reference Price by 5.54% in November 2024](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/agroindustri/statistik/67497faa24df9/harga-acuan-nikel-ri-dinaikkan-554-pada-november-2024))

Indonesia Holds the World's Largest Nickel Reserves

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia previously stated that Indonesia possesses almost half of the world's nickel reserves. He cited data from a survey report by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

"Four months ago, the USGS stated that our nickel reserves constitute 40%-45% of the world's total," said Bahlil on October 14, 2024.

The USGS recorded Indonesia's nickel reserves at 55 million tons, or 42.31% of the world's total reserves of 130 million tons in 2023.

Citing the same data, nickel mine production in 2023 reached 1.8 million tons, or 50% of global production, which totaled 3.6 million tons.

Bahlil mentioned that due to this large reserve, Indonesia faces considerable pressure from other countries to reconsider the ban on nickel ore exports.

However, he regretted this pressure, as ore exports could generate significant state revenue.

"This nickel downstream processing creates a multiplier effect for the Indonesian economy, enabling us to create new economic growth centers," said Bahlil.

(Read *Katadata*: [Nickel in Indonesia: North Maluku Holds the Largest Reserves](https://katadata.co.id/berita/energi/67342bfada509/jumlah-dan-sebaran-nikel-di-indonesia-maluku-utara-miliki-cadangan-terbanyak))