Mirabela to expand Brazilian nickel mine
SYDNEY, July 30 (Reuters) - Australia-based miner Mirabela (MBN.AX) (MNB.TO) will increase the size of a nickel mine under development in Brazil to yield 40 percent more nickel after it starts up next year, the company said on Wednesday.
Under the plan, the crushing capacity of the ore treatment plant at the Santa Rita mine in northeastern Brazil's Bahia state will be increased to 6.4 million tonnes a year, up by 40 percent from an original 4.6 million tonnes, it said.
"This reflects an average annual production rate of 27,000 tonnes per annum of nickel in concentrate assuming a resource grade of 0.61 percent nickel and a recovery rate of 70 percent," the company said.
The open pit-designed mine, set to start next year at a rate of around 18,500 tonnes of nickel in concentrate, should hit full stride by mid-2010, it said, adding it was looking at ways to boost production of the steel-toughening alloy further with an underground extension.
The firm agreed this month to sell half of its concentrate to Brazil's Votorantim Metais Niquel S.A. for five years and said it is negotiating to sell the remainder to Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM).
Mirabela's Australian stock was up 8.7 percent at A$4.36 at 0311 GMT, outrunning a 2.2 percent rise in the S&P/ASX200 .AXJO index. ($1=A$1.05) (Reporting by James Regan)
