Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 20 : 13-Nov-14

BHP Billiton has abandoned its efforts to divest the Nickel West mining and smelting assets, as it was unable to find a buyer willing to pay a suitable price. The operations had been excluded from the non-core divisions to be hived off into a new listed entity by BHP as it concentrates on iron ore, copper, petroleum and coal. Analysts’ valuations for Nickel West had fluctuated wildly between $A250m and $A1bn, and the sale was hampered by a drop in the commodity’s price from $US21,000 a tonne in May 2014 to $US15,451 in November

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AREAS LIMITED – ASX WSA, INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL – ASX IGO, MINCOR RESOURCES NL – ASX MCR, PANORAMIC RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX PAN, NICKEL WEST, GLENCORE PLC, JINCHUAN NON-FERROUS METALS IMPORT AND EXPORT COMPANY