April 21 (Reuters) - Australia's Nickel Mines Ltd NIC.AX said on Wednesday it had acquired half of the Angel Nickel project in Indonesia, having bought a further 20% stake for $137.6 million from a unit of Tsingshan Group.
The acquisition is part of the second stage of a previous agreement where the Australian miner had agreed to buy 80% of the mine from Shanghai Decent Investment, a unit of China's Tsingshan Group, the world's largest stainless steel producer.
In February this year, Nickel Mines had bought the initial 30% stake for $180 million. It intends to buy a further 30% stake for $210 million - taking its total interest to 80%.
The project consists of four next-generation RKEF lines and a 380MW power station currently under construction within the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) on Halmahera Island in Indonesia's North Maluku province.
The IWIP project is among those that the Indonesian government have made a "national priority" to boost processing of nickel at home after it stopped exporting unprocessed ore. value of the Angel Nickel project ranges from $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion based on assumptions of an Independent Expert Valuation Report by Lonergan Edwards & Associates, the company said.