MELBOURNE, Dec 9 (Reuters) - BHP Billiton Ltd has agreed to sell its shuttered Ravensthorpe laterite nickel mine to Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals for $340 million.
BHP said on Wednesday it expected the sale to be completed by the end of March 2010, subject to approvals from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and the West Australian state government.
The company said it would reverse previously recognised impairment costs of $441 million post-tax from June 2009 as a one-off in its first-half results for this year.
The mine cost BHP about $2.2 billion to build but was closed last January, just months into its life as nickel prices collapsed in the wake of the global financial crisis.
In February BHP wrote down the value of Ravensthorpe and the accompanying Yabulu refinery in the east coast state of Queensland to zero. Yabulu has since been sold to Australian mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer.
(Reporting by Sonali Paul) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) Keywords: BHPBILLITON/FIRSTQUANTUM (bruce.hextall@thomsonreuters.com; +612 93731236; Reuters Messaging bruce.hextall.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
BHP said on Wednesday it expected the sale to be completed by the end of March 2010, subject to approvals from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and the West Australian state government.
The company said it would reverse previously recognised impairment costs of $441 million post-tax from June 2009 as a one-off in its first-half results for this year.
The mine cost BHP about $2.2 billion to build but was closed last January, just months into its life as nickel prices collapsed in the wake of the global financial crisis.
In February BHP wrote down the value of Ravensthorpe and the accompanying Yabulu refinery in the east coast state of Queensland to zero. Yabulu has since been sold to Australian mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer.
(Reporting by Sonali Paul) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) Keywords: BHPBILLITON/FIRSTQUANTUM (bruce.hextall@thomsonreuters.com; +612 93731236; Reuters Messaging bruce.hextall.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2009 AFX News
