BHP to shut Aussie nickel assets as impairments rise to $3.8bn

BHP is to suspend its Australian nickel production until 2027 at least, saying it was unable to “ovecome the substantial economic challenges” of global oversupply in the metal.Major supplies of low-grade nickel from Indonesia has seen the nickel price fall 44% since the beginning of 2023.Glencore announced in February it would shutter its 49%-owned Koniambo mine in which it had sunk more than $4bn into Koniambo since 2013 while First Quantum Minerals said it would halt mining at its nickel and cobalt operation in Western Australia and cut a third of the workforce in response to weaker metal prices and higher costs.BHP’s announcement is not a surprise. It announced in February it was trying to stem losses at the Western Australian operations. “Like others in the Australian nickel sector, we have not been able to overcome the substantial economic challenges driven by a global oversupply of nickel,” said Geraldine Slattery, president of BHP Australia today.BHP’s Western Australia Nickel are forecast to report an underlying Ebitda loss of about $300m in the year to end-June, BHP said. The group would incur a $300m write-down on the assets taking total impairments to $3.8bn following a charge earlier this year.BHP said it would invest $300m a year in the operations – which include mining and processing at the Kwinana nickel refinery, Kalgoorlie nickel smelter and Mt Keith and Leinster operation – once a transition period had been completed, end-December.The post BHP to shut Aussie nickel assets as impairments rise to $3.8bn appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.comWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com