Under the deal, miner and commodity trader Glencore will buy 50% of the nickel sulphide concentrate produced in the first three years of Nova’s life.

The commercial terms of the agreement are confidential, but Sirius said they reflected the expected high quality of the Nova concentrate with a high iron to magnesium ratio of 62.

“We are pleased to have completed the final part of our preferred offtake strategy with such an attractive offtake deal with Glencore,” Sirius managing director Mark Bennett said. 

“We have now secured offtake for all of Nova’s nickel and copper production for the first three years of the mine’s initial ten-year life, and are looking forward to a productive relationship with Glencore.”

In an agreement signed earlier, BHP Billiton’s Nickel West will take the other 50% of the nickel concentrate production while another large miner and commodity trader, Trafigura, will take the copper concentrates from Nova.

Concentrate will be trucked by road to either Esperance or Geraldton ports. 

Nova, a $A443 million project, is due to begin production late next year.

Construction of the decline is ahead of schedule, while infrastructure components such as the camp and airstrip have been completed.

Sirius spent $41.4 million on mine development during the June quarter and is planning to spend $96.1 million during the current quarter.

The company is subject to a cash and scrip takeover offer from Independence Group, which is due to be finalised next month.

Earlier this month, Sirius announced details of a solar-diesel hybrid power station for Nova. Zenith Pacific will construct, own, operate and maintain a 20MW diesel-gas dual fuel compatible power station combined with a 6.7MW solar farm to supply the mining operations.

The solar aspect of the project is expected to generate around 12.5 million kilowatt hours per year. The contribution of the solar panels will save the transport and consumption of about 3 million litres of diesel annually. Up to half of Nova’s power demand will come from solar during peak sun hours.

Germany’s Solea AG has partnered with Zenith for the project. The company has substantial experience in integrating large-scale photovoltaic with remote and off-grid power stations. Solea constructed the world’s first 1MW ground mounted diesel-photovoltaic hybrid electric power plant for industrial mining applications.

The Nova power station will not cost Sirius anything up-front and electricity generated will be paid for under a 10-year power purchase agreement.