Western Areas sends first shipment of nickel to China

The first shipment of nickel concentrate from Western Area’s Forrestania project to be sold into China left Esperance Port on Tuesday night. The loading of the first shipment was attended by Western Areas’ board and management, agents ‘Merchant Shipping’, Esperance Port Authority and State Government officials. The opening ceremony was conducted by Shanelle Oliver, wife of director Craig Oliver, who passed away in June in Cameroon in the Sundance air disaster.
Western Areas has a two year contract to sell a total of 25,000 tonnes of high grade nickel in concentrate to Jinchuan Group, China's largest nickel producer, with the first shipment the start of scheduled monthly shipments.
Nickel concentrate is being transported directly from Forrestania, through Esperance Port to Xingang Port in sealed, half height containers. The concentrate will then be railed from Xingang to Jinchuan's nickel smelter in Gansu Province.
According to Western Areas its sealed containers meet the highest environmental standards and remove the potential for dust pollution during the transport process. The company also stated that the containers provide cost and handling efficiencies at the Forrestania plant site and at Esperance Port. Accordingly, Western Areas has leased 450 new sealed containers to handle the expected growth in Chinese concentrate sales.
Western Areas' managing director, Julian Hanna said: "The first shipment of Forrestania nickel to Jinchuan is a very exciting event and a major achievement for all the people who have worked hard to make this a success. It also represents the start of a brand new $200M pa export industry from Western Australia to China. This industry should provide significant benefits to our shareholders, to people in the Esperance region and to the wider Australian economy."
In addition to exporting nickel to Jinchuan, Western Areas sells 10,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate per annum to BHP Billiton's smelter at Kambalda and sells high grade oxide ore from the Spotted Quoll mine to Minara Resources in Western Australia.
Mr Hanna added: "We have just announced a doubling of mine production and plant capacity at Forrestania during the June quarter. As a result, we have significant stockpiles of high grade nickel ore and concentrate which is now available to be exported to China and sold to BHP Billiton."
The first shipment to China coincides with the 10th anniversary of Western Areas NL which listed on 28th July 2000 as a junior nickel explorer. The major breakthrough came in September 2003 with discovery of the Flying Fox Mine and again in October 2007 with discovery of the Spotted Quoll Mine. Flying Fox reached another milestone this week when the mine decline reached 1000m vertical depth. The company said that Spotted Quoll is also exceeding expectations with an average grade of 7% nickel mined since open pit production commenced two months ago.
Western Areas held a 10th Anniversary celebration party on the Swan River in Perth. The company’s chairman Terry Streeter said: "It is very pleasing to see the company grow over the past ten years from a $3 million listed exploration company to become one of Australia's premier nickel mining companies.
"We believe that Forrestania and our regional projects are still in their early stages and that potential exists to increase production well above the current sustainable target of 25,000 tonnes nickel per annum".
Contact: www.westernareas.com.au