Poseidon returns, has marginal plan

Poseidon returns, has marginal plan
July 3, 2007

It will need a nickel price well above the long-term average to make a go of it.
AdvertisementAdvertisementIT'S official - Poseidon is back.
At a meeting yesterday, investors in Niagara Mining, the would-be resurrector of the infamous Windarra nickel project, approved a resolution to change the company's name to Poseidon Nickel.
Niagara - ahem, Poseidon - also nearly unanimously approved an options package for its new chairman, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, which is already more than $200 million in the money.
Forrest hasn't brought much to the table yet except for his name and a marketing deal with his iron ore company, Fortescue Metals, if Poseidon manages to resurrect Windarra. And since Twiggy announced plans to join the company in April, there have been four stock exchange queries, including three in the space of a week.
Poseidon's first move yesterday was to ditch chief executive Chris Daws - a man who, like Twiggy, has had a few run-ins with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission - in favour of former Clough chief executive David Singleton.
He will have the unenviable task of proving Poseidon's South Windarra heap-leach project is economic.
The project may have looked good a few weeks back when nickel was trading at record highs above $US20 a pound. But South Windarra has an estimated operating cost of $US10.30 a pound, which could rank it as the most expensive producer in Western Australia.
Given the recent nickel price pull-back and Goldman Sachs JBWere's prediction the nickel price would average $US10.53 a pound in 2009, the project's chances of getting off the ground aren't looking great.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/xchange/poseidon-returns-has-marginal-plan/2007/07/02/1183351125682.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1