Forrest extends loan deal with PoseidonBillionaire miner Andrew...

Forrest extends loan deal with Poseidon

Billionaire miner Andrew Forrest has given Poseidon Nickel a further 12 months to repay an $8 million loan, as a close ally replaces him at the company.

Herbert Scruggs has been appointed Poseidon's chairman, four days after Mr Forrest stepped down from the position.

Mr Scruggs is also a non-executive director on the board of Fortescue Metals Group, and Mr Forrest's children's charity Australian Childrens Trust.

"Mr Scruggs is an expert in business leadership, corporate recoveries and step change business improvement," Poseidon said in its annual report.

Mr Forrest, the chairman and founder of Fortescue Metals, is Poseidon's largest shareholder with a 30 per cent stake.

He stood down as Poseidon chairman last week, as his philanthropic duties were deemed incompatible with the company's effort to get its mining operations up and running.

Mr Forrest made a loan to the company in April 2012 as Poseidon Nickel sought to restart the historic Windarra nickel project in Western Australia.

He has now extended the maturity date of the loan to October 1, 2014, after previously extending it from July 1, 2013 to October 1, 2013.

The company said Mr Forrest had demanded that the loan be repaid through the proceeds of an equity raising "as soon as reasonably practicable," but no later than the maturity date.

Poseidon said its near-term strategy is to remain focused on the restart of the Windarra Nickel Project which is expected to have an initial mine life of six years.

The Windarra site was developed by a separate company also called Poseidon in 1969 during a boom in prices.

That boom was quickly followed by a dramatic crash, which led to a scandal known as the Poseidon bubble, which led to changes being made to share market trading rules.

Poseidon Nickel shares resumed trading on Tuesday after the board changes, and were down 3.5 cents, or 24.1 per cent, at 11 cents at 1347 AEST.