The transition, which is expected to be concluded by May 31, 2024, will prioritize the safe preservation of the Cosmos assets, and the completion of select key workstreams includes finishing the wet commissioning of the processing plant and processing of existing ore on the ROM pad. The company said it intends to protect its option to restart Cosmos in the future should market conditions improve.

“This is not the outcome anyone at IGO wanted, however we cannot ignore the operational and financial risks involved in continuing to develop Cosmos in the current environment,” said Ivan Vella, who was recently appointed managing director and CEO for IGO. “We still believe there is value in Cosmos, however in this nickel environment we need to be disciplined with our allocation of capital, while retaining our optionality to restart if market conditions improve.”

IGO expects to record a further $150 million to $175 million impairment against the Cosmos assets in the company’s H1 FY24 results.