Indonesia dominates the global nickel market, accounting for roughly 60–65% of world supply, making the country the central hub of the industry. Brandon Colwell, CEO of Nusa Nickel Corp., says his company has positioned itself within that ecosystem.
“Thank you. Nusa Nickel is now North America’s only revenue-generating nickel operation and licensed nickel trader operating in the world-leading nickel district of Indonesia,” Colwell said in an interview with InvestorNews.com host Tracy Hughes at PDAC 2026.
The company focuses on the sourcing and sale of lateritic nickel material while also supplying nickel ore through licensed trading operations.
Colwell said the company established three objectives before entering the public markets. “Before we went public as a private company, we wanted to achieve three different things,” he said. “First, we wanted to prove our proof of concept by generating revenue through bulk sampling and commercial sales of nickel material.”
The second objective was securing a nickel trading license. “That allows us to expand our growth potential from both a financial standpoint and from the standpoint of expanding our company’s footprint.”
The third objective focused on investor positioning. “We wanted to provide a high-reward opportunity for investors while also offering a level of risk mitigation for an early-stage company by achieving those first two objectives.”
According to the company’s January 5, 2026 year-end update, Nusa Nickel generated revenues during 2025 through the bulk sampling and sale of lateritic nickel material in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The company also established a licensed nickel trading subsidiary approved by the Government of Indonesia through a Sales and Transport License (IPP Nickel Trading License), enabling it to trade third-party nickel material and intermediate nickel products.
Colwell said Indonesia’s laterite geology has been a key driver behind the country’s rapid rise as the world’s leading nickel supplier. “The really interesting thing about Indonesia—and the reason why they are the king of nickel—is because of their laterite nickel,” he said. “When it comes to laterites, you’re talking about 30 to 50 metres of mineralized dirt and soft rock. That makes it much easier to scale operations.”
Indonesia has also built extensive processing capacity. “Indonesia currently has about 65 active nickel smelters and 12 active HPAL processors (High Pressure Acid Leach),” Colwell said.
He credited the company’s leadership team for establishing its presence in the jurisdiction. “We were able to do that through our business partner and President and COO, Robert Tjandra,” Colwell said. “No matter where you operate in the mining world, you need someone who understands the jurisdiction.”
Tjandra was born and raised in Indonesia and spent about five decades there before moving to Toronto in 2007. “He has a unique understanding of how things operate in Indonesia while also understanding how business operates in the West,” Colwell said.
“We wanted to prove our proof of concept first so investors could see whether this management team could execute,” he said. “Now that we’ve proven that, the next question becomes how fast we can scale.”
The company has signed a definitive agreement with Genesis Acquisition Corp., a capital pool company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, and is targeting completion of financing and regulatory review in 2026.
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