Reuters reported that production from the Ramu nickel mine in Papua New Guinea will likely be delayed until June 2010. The USD 1.7 billion Ramu project was halted by the Papua New Guinea government for a month in mid 2008 due to health and safety concerns.

Mr Zuo Weiwen chairman of the overseas unit of Metallurgical Corporation of China said that "We originally planned to begin partial production at the end of next year, but actually now we will begin real production in June 2010."

Australia listed Highlands Pacific Limited, which owns 8.56% of the project, said that the stoppage would not affect construction time.

Nickel from the mine is designed to supply stainless steel mills in China.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)