Korea Resources Corporation will sell part of its stake in a nickel mine in Madagascar to Korean companies for USD 140 million to raise cash for future mining projects abroad.

Seoul based Korea Resources said that the company will sign an agreement today to sell 5% stake in the Ambatovy mine. Trading house Samsung C&T Corporation will buy 3%, Hyundai Heavy Industries Company 1.5% and Hyundai Corporation 0.5%. Korea Resources held 22.5% stake in the mine before the sale.

South Korea, which imports almost all its energy and minerals is competing with China and Japan to secure supplies of raw materials. The USD 4.65 billion Madagascar mine will produce 60,000 tonnes of nickel a year starting from 2011.

Korea Resources and other companies will receive 30,000 tonnes of the metal from the mine’s processing plant each year, meeting about a quarter of the North Asian nation’s annual needs. Nickel is used to make stainless steel and in rechargeable batteries.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)