Highlands Pacific will divest its interest in the Ramu nickel and cobalt project in the Madang Province in Papua New Guinea.

Highlands Pacific managing director John Gooding says the group"s 10 year involvement in this exciting world class project will potentially be coming to an end.

"The group is seeking to capture some of the value brought about by the unprecedented demand forecasts and subsequent prices being paid for nickel and cobalt."

The company has commissioned ABN AMRO to assist with the divestment.

John Gooding paid tribute to the work being done by the manager of the Ramu project, China Metallurgical Group Construction, and said that the project was well on the way to becoming a significant contributor to the PNG economy.

He says the company is concentrating on being an operator in the copper and gold sector and the Ramu project sits outside the strategy.

The Ramu project will produce 32,000 tonnes of nickel and 3100 tonnes of cobalt per annum when fully operational and has an operating life estimated to be in excess of 20 years. The project is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2009.