| CATEGORY: NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS SECTOR: MINING |
BHP Billiton sells Ravensthorpe for $340m |
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Wed 09 Dec 2009
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LONDON (SHARECAST) - Mining giant BHP Billiton has sold its Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia to Canada’s First Quantum Minerals for US$340m.
The London-listed company said it expects the sale of the $2bn mine to be finalised in the first quarter of 2010.
Ravensthorpe was mothballed back in January following a slump in the price of nickel and high cost of production. Prices fell as low as $8,810.00 per tonne in late 2008.
BHP has taken a $3.36bn hit this year after being forced to write down the value of Ravensthorpe and its Yabulu refinery in Queensland to nothing.
BHP’s acting president of stainless steel materials, Gerard Bond, called the result “an outstanding outcome for all parties”.
Philip Pascall, chairman and CEO of Toronto and London-listed First Quantum, said he is committed to re-starting Ravensthorpe “within a realistic timeframe”.
“We are confident that our experience from many years of successfully developing and operating complex projects will be invaluable in making this a reality,” Pascall added.
The firm thinks the project's average annual production of nickel metal will be about 39,000 tonnes for the first five years after operations begin and an average annual production of 28,000 tonnes of nickel metal over the expected life of mine of 32 years.
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