:: Xstrata Nickel to Expand Recycling Business with Construction of new Sudbury Plant

Xstrata Nickel announces that it has begun construction of a new recycling plant at the Sudbury smelter in Sudbury, Ontario that will more than double the capacity of the smelter’s existing recycling business.

The C$21.4 million investment will establish Xstrata Nickel as a market leader in cobalt and nickel recycling, once in full production.

"In alignment with Xstrata Nickel’s focus on growth, this expansion gives us the capacity to profitably take in a wide variety of feedstock, which represents a distinct competitive advantage in today’s metal recycling market," said Mike Romaniuk, Vice-President Sudbury Operations. “Demand for cobalt and nickel recycling has significantly increased in recent years due to high metal prices and rapid technological advances, and we will now be better able to meet this customer need."

Xstrata Nickel has received all necessary environmental permits following a detailed engineering and pilot-testing phase completed mid-June 2006. Commissioning of the new plant, which will be operated and maintained by the commodity business unit’s current Sudbury employees, is scheduled for July 2007.

The Sudbury smelter has been actively recycling cobalt- and nickel-bearing materials since 1981. The operation treats and processes feed from worldwide sources.