no seller, page-6

I assume this is the article that ClodaghR is referring to -

Albidon set for breakthrough


Albidon is based in Australia, mines nickel in Africa and floated on the Alternative Investment Market in London four years ago.

It is a small, young company that has become even smaller in recent months as the share price has plummeted from more than 200p to just 19p.

The decline has been precipitous, but it says more about the stock market and the price of nickel than any underlying problems at Albidon.

Nickel reached a high of $22 (£13.30) a pound earlier this year, but last week it touched $4.20. At the same time, Albidon has been hit by the general disaffection with Aim stocks.

But Dale Rogers, Albidon's Australian chief executive, is phlegmatic. His ancestors moved Down Under from the Cornish tin mines and he has spent his life steeped in mining.

Unlike many rivals, Albidon has moved from the exploration phase to the production phase. The Munali nickel project in Zambia is up and running and should be producing at least 10,000 tons of nickel a year from the middle of 2009.

The group also secured a contract with China's biggest nickel refiner, Jinchuan, so it already has a buyer for its metal.

Though Albidon has been lossmaking to date, brokers expect profits of more than £17m this year, rising to £100m in 2009. The Munali mine also produces small amounts of copper, palladium, cobalt and platinum and these should boost profitability.

Mining in Zambia is relatively cheap so Albidon will be able to make a profit even at today's depressed nickel prices. But 40% of nickel producers are operating at a loss, which makes most metal-watchers believe that the price of this metal is bound to rise soon.

Midas verdict: The nickel industry is split between the giants, such as BHP Billiton, and small players, such as Albidon. Rogers would like to create a midsized nickel business, either by snapping up rivals or merging with them.

In any event, this business is on a growth trajectory and should benefit when nickel prices start to rebound. Buy.


http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=456397&in_page_id=19&in_author_id=1822