* China's Lygend Mining said on Wednesday it resumed work on its nickel sulphate project in Indonesia on Dec. 1 after an eight-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

* The Ningbo-based firm had originally announced the official start of construction on the project - in which it partners Indonesia's Harita Group - in March this year.

* The pandemic led to the suspension but after several months of organising chartered flights and rotating staff, the contractor now has the personnel and equipment to restart work, Lygend said on its official WeChat account.

* The project will have capacity to produce 160,000 tonnes of battery-grade nickel sulphate and 20,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate per year; its launch date remains unclear.

* Lygend in November had said the launch of its high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) nickel project on the island of Obi would be delayed to March 2021 amid the pandemic.

(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) ((tom.daly@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 5669 2119;))