WMC Resources

WMC Resources Limited is an Australian diversified mining and fertilizer company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:WMR). It has three main businesses:

• A nickel mining and processing business in Western Australia.
• A copper and uranium mine at Olympic Dam in South Australia. This mine contains 40% of the world's known uranium reserves.
• A fertilizer production business in Queensland, as well as Hi Fert, a blending and distribution network supporting Australia's eastern states.

As of 2004, the company is investigating a new titanium mine in Mozambique.

The company traces its roots back to 1933 as a gold mining company in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The present corporate structure formed in 2003 with a demerger leading to the splitting off of aluminium operations to form Alumina Limited.

In 2003, the company made an profit of 245 million Australian dollars, on assets of approximately 4000 million AUD. 2004 profits are expected to be much higher due to the rise in commodity prices.

The current Chief Executive Officer is Andrew Michelmore , and the board is chaired by Tommie Bergman. A notable past CEO was Hugh Morgan , a politically-vocal CEO who spoke out about the power of trade unions, criticised the Mabo decision and native title more generally, and supported a number of other right-wing causes.

In December 2004, Xstrata , a Swiss mining company, announced a takeover offer for the company. As of February 2005 , the WMC board has recommended that shareholders reject the current offer. The government, has not objected to the takeover through the Foreign Investment Review Board, however a number of people (including members of the Government) have concerns due to the economic (and strategic) importance of the Olympic Dam resources, and the reputation of Xstrata and its major shareholder, Glencore .

External links

• WMC Corporate website - source of most material for this article
• Xstrata's WMC takeover page