Palmer now eyes BHP's Ravensthorpe nickel mine
04 Jul 2009
Iron ore billionaire Clive Palmer who earlier bought the Yabulu nickel refinery from BHP Billiton, is now set to acquire another BHP asset - the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia.
According to reports, Palmer has evinced keen interest in the troubled project.
The sale of Yabulu is expected to be completed by the end of this month. BHP will write down the carrying value of the operation by $500 million and a further $175 million in irrecoverable tax benefits.
Palmer, the fifth richest man in Australia, has been a key figure in the Australian resources industry for more than 25 years and owns about 160 billion tonnes of iron ore reserves in the Pilbara region of Western Australia through Mineralogy, his private company.
Palmer told reporters that he was planning to expand operations at Yabulu. The refinery produces about 35,000 tonnes of nickel a year, with an export value of A$600 million.
Palmer said he wanted to increase this to about 70,000 tonnes a year and that Ravensthorpe might be one way of doing that.