Ramu Nickel Cobalt Project has achieved a record unaudited net cash inflow of $89 million (K273 million) for the March Quarter.
This comes off the back of a production of 8,210 tons of nickel and 774 tons of cobalt in the quarter compared to a budget of 7,471 tons of nickel and 724 tons of cobalt.
The record cash inflow comes against a capital expenditure of US$2.5 million (K7.7 million), which is expected to generate a distribution to Highlands of US$1.5 million (K4.6 million).
Highlands received a maiden distribution of US$1.15 million (K3.5 million) from the joint venture, boosting cash reserves to A$9.4 million (K21.7 million) at the end of March 2018 with an additional $380k due in the current quarter once audited accounts are completed.
Highlands says nickel and cobalt prices continue to rise.
The nickel price reached US$14,107/t (K4323/t) in February and has since climbed to more than US$15,200/t (K46625/t), which is an increase of approximately 20 percent since the start of 2018. Cobalt surged to US$95,250/t (K292, 177/t) in mid-March 2018, which is up approximately 23 percent since the start of the year.