ox on the march, page-26

Avebury to produce 6,500t of nickel
July 22, 2008 - 11:29AM


OZ Minerals, the group created by the merger of Oxiana and Zinifex, expects its Avebury mine in Tasmania to produce 6,500 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate in calendar 2009.

The company has just started producing the first nickel concentrate from the Avebury mine, which Zinifex picked up after it acquired Allegiance Mining NL for $852 million this year.

Avebury is expected to produce about 2,000 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate this calendar year.

Meanwhile, OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Michelmore said the drop in company stock prices around the world had put "a number" of companies into the takeover "target range".

"The one's that we're interested in ... continue to look very attractive," he told analysts on a conference call.

Oz Minerals on Wednesday will begin trading officially under its own name on the stock exchange. On Tuesday it is trading as Oxiana.

© 2008 AAP