The recovery of Western Australia’s nickel sector will be highlighted later this year when production resumes at the Ravensthorpe mine, mothballed more than two years ago by BHP Billiton.
The nickel price was hammered during the global financial crisis in 2008, falling from $US33,000 a tonne to $US9,000 a tonne by the end of that year.
The price slump prompted the closure of several WA nickel mines including Ravensthorpe and all of those operated by Russia’s Norilsk Nickel.
WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore told the Australian Nickel Conference in Perth on Thursday that the sector had bounced back, with the nickel price currently sitting around $US18,500 a tonne.
Norilsk had reopened the Maggie Hays mine at Lake Johnston in the Goldfields region earlier this year while Canadian miner First Quantum was set to recommence production at the project in the state’s South West region later this year.
First Quantum bought Ravensthorpe from BHP Billiton in late 2009 for a low $US340 million.
Ravensthorpe was expected to produce 39,000 tonnes of nickel per annum for first five years “and give a real boost to WA nickel production”, Mr Moore told delegates.
“The state wants this resurgence to continue,” he said.
Mr Moore said nickel exploration was picking up in WA, with $261 million spent on such activities last financial year, up from $195 million in the previous year.
He also said he was optimistic new economic nickel discoveries were yet to be made in the state as it was under-explored for the metal, which is used to strengthen stainless steel.
First Quantum is scheduled to deliver an update on Ravensthorpe on the second day of the conference in Perth on Friday.