LONDON (ShareCast) - BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) has agreed to sell its Yabulu nickel refinery for an undisclosed sum after writing
down its value by US$675m.
The sale of the refinery in Queensland, Australia to Professor Clive Palmer, one of Australia's richest men, comes as the miner looks to scale down production of the metal.
BHP said the write-down, which includes $175m of unrecoverable tax benefits, will be reported as an exceptional item in results for the year ended 30 June 2009.
Reports suggest BHP, the world's third-biggest nickel producer, may have got $100m for the refinery.
Sharply lower nickel prices forced BHP to indefinitely suspend operations at the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia in January. That meant Yabulu stopped processing the mixed nickel cobalt hydroxide product.
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