("BHP Billiton To Sell Yabulu Nickel Refinery" published around 2327 GMT misstated the writedown in Yabulu's carrying value. The correct version follows:)
SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) Friday said it agreed to sell its Yabulu nickel refinery in Queensland to companies owned by Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer.
The sale follows a review of the operation, and the terms of the sale are confidential, BHP said in a statement.
Market speculation previously focused on a sale to Palmer's Gladstone Pacific Nickel Ltd. (GPN.LN), or that BHP may opt for a packaged sale of Yabulu and its failed US$2.1 billion Ravensthorpe mine in Western Australia.
BHP will write down the carrying value of Yabulu by around US$500 million and a further US$175 million of unrecoverable tax benefits. Those writedowns will be reported in BHP's results for the year ending June 30.
-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;
61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com