Western Areas to Sell 25,000 Tons of Nickel to China's Jinchuan

SYDNEY, July 8 -- Western Areas NL, an Australian nickel producer that supplies BHP Billiton Ltd., signed a two- year sales agreement with China's Jinchuan Group Ltd.

    Jinchuan will buy as much as 25,000 metric tons of nickel in concentrate from the Forrestania project in Western Australia, the Perth-based company said today in a statement. The contract will start early next year, Western Areas said.

    "The two-year contract with Jinchuan is consistent with Western Areas' plan to sell concentrate to major smelters within and outside Australia," Managing Director Julian Hanna said in the statement. "We expect the agreement with China's largest nickel company will also provide Western Areas with exposure to one of the world's fastest growing markets."

    Western Areas fell 2.5 percent to A$5.44, bringing gains this year to 65 percent. The company said in March that BHP, the world's biggest mining company, had agreed to buy as much as 10,000 tons of nickel in concentrate a year and provide a A$45 million ($35 million) loan for expansion.

    (Source: Bloomberg)