BHP to offload nickel operations in Western Australia
26 Jun 2009
BHP Billiton is expected to sell the Yabulu refinery near Townsville in Western Australia, where concentrate from the $2.2-billion Ravensthorpe operations was processed until January this year.
Xstrata and Clive Palmer's Gladstone Pacific Nickel are said to be interested in Yabulu.
Ravensthorpe cost BHP $3.4 billion in writedowns, and the company needs another $500 million to restart the operations, analysts said.
In January, the company cut 6,000 jobs from its global workforce and close the Ravensthorpe nickel mine due to the weakening demand for its products brought on by the global economic slowdown (See: BHP Billiton cuts 6,000 jobs; closes mine).
The company built the plant when nickel prices were strong but there were teething problems and less than 12 months after they shut it down.
WA Business News on Wednesday reported that it was believed that an information memorandum for the sale of Ravensthorpe would be ready for release within days, with Gresham Partners running the process.