Many companies as well as the state government still see even bigger dollars coming from new refineries in WA processing the spodumene concentrate into lithium hydroxide which sells for much higher prices. Nor does this mean ignoring more traditional minerals. A company like BHP has shifted its 50-year-old nickel smelter near Kalgoorlie away from stainless steel into a new lease of life. Rather than selling or closing the smelter, BHP realised its nickel product could be profitably rechannelled into supplying nickel sulphate to battery makers like Tesla. But how much further and faster Australia can go in developing new processing…