DJ Eramet: Weda Bay Project: New Partnership With Mitsubishi

Trading Markets, Thu. February 19, 2009; Posted: 02:15 AM    

French metals group Eramet SA (ERA.FR) said Thursday it has agreed to sell 33.4% of its Strand Minerals (Indonesia) Pty Ltd. unit to Mitsubishi Corp. 

Strand Minerals (Indonesia) owns 90% of PT Wed Bay Nickel, the remaining 10% being held by Indonesian partner Antam, Eramet added. 

PT Weda Bay Nickel is the project and exploration company for the Weda Bay nickel cobalt project on the island of Halmahera in Indonesia. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Mitsubishi will pay Eramet about $145 million. This amount includes Mitsubishi's pro-rata share of the capital of Strand Minerals and other expenditures incurred by Eramet since the acquisition of Weda Bay in 2006 to assess the feasibility of the project. 

Eramet and Mitsubishi, with their very complementary competencies, will join forces to finalize project studies required to take the final development decision. 

The Weda Bay deposit is one of the largest undeveloped nickel projects globally, with an updated 5.1 million tons nickel contained in measured, indicated and inferred ore resources, which could ultimately enable Eramet to almost double its nickel production, with a targeted additional annual capacity of up to 65,000 tons of nickel. 

The project would use a hydrometallurgical process developed by Eramet at its research center in France. 

Company Web Site: www.eramet.fr