M'bishi to pay $145 mln to Eramet for nickel project

TOKYO Feb 19 (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T), Japan's biggest trading house, said it would take a 33.4 percent stake in Indonesian nickel developer Strant Minerals (Indonesia) Pte from French nickel and manganese group Eramet SA (ERMT.PA) for $145 million.

The French company will hold the remaining 66.6 percent of Strant, which is engaged in the exploration of the Weda Bay nickel deposit in Halmahera, Indonesia, one of the world's largest undeveloped nickel projects, Mitsubishi said.

Mitsubishi and Eramet will jointly conduct a feasibility study on the development of the mine.

The two firms aim for annual production of up to 65,000 tonnes from the mine, which contains 5.1 million tonnes of nickel ore resources, Mitsubishi said. (Reporting by Yuko Inoue; Editing by Chris Gallagher)