UNTR – Business expansion into nickel processing with acquisition of SMA and SPR

United Tractors (UNTR) expansion is one of the company's major investments, starting with the acquisition of Stargate Mineral Asia (SMA) and Stargate Pacific Resources (SPR) in line with the vernment's steps to encourage the industrialization of these commodities from upstream to downstream. The acquisition is expected to coincide with continued investment in long-term projects in the nickel sector. UNTR acquired 90% of SMA and SPR shares engaged in nickel mining. The total transaction was USD271.8 mn. SPR has JORC nickel reserves of 44.9 mn tons and resources of 151 mn tons. SPR currently produces 440k – 500k tons of nickel ore per year. In the acquisition process, UNTR plans to build a gas-fired rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) smelter with a capacity of up to 14k tons which takes 2.5-3 years. UNTR has prepared a higher capex than this year for infrastructure needs. (Source : Investor Daily).