Julian Hanna

Western Areas NL

WESTERN AREAS NL 2

ASX Conference Hong Kong – 29 October 2009Mining and developing high grade, low cost, long life nickel mines

WESTERN AREAS NL

This presentation is being furnished to you solely for your information and for your use and may not be copied, reproduced or redistributed to any other person in any manner. You agree to keep the contents of this presentation and these materials confidential. The information contained in this presentation does not constitute or form any part of any offer or invitation to purchase any securities and neither the issue of the information nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract or commitment on the part of any person to proceed with any transaction.

You must not take or transmit this presentation or a copy of this presentation into the United States or Japan or distribute it, directly or indirectly, in the United States or Japan or to any US persons. By your acceptance of this document, you acknowledge that you are a not a “U.S. person” for the purposes of the US Securities Act. Neither this document, in whole or in part, nor any copy thereof may be taken or transmitted to any other person. The distribution of this document to other persons or in other jurisdictions may be restricted by law, and persons into whose possession this document comes should inform themselves about, and observe, any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the federal securities laws of the United States and the laws of other jurisdictions. The distribution of this presentation in other jurisdictions may be restricted by law, and persons into whose possession this presentation comes should inform themselves about, and observe, any such restrictions.

The information contained in this presentation has been prepared by Western Areas NL. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made in or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by Western Areas NL, employees or representatives as to the accuracy or completeness of this information or any other written or oral information made available to any interested party or its advisers and any liability therefore is hereby expressly disclaimed. No party has any obligation to notify opinion changes or if it becomes aware of any inaccuracy in or omission from this presentation. All opinions and projections expressed in this presentation are given as of this date and are subject to change without notice.

This document contains forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the performance or achievements of Western Areas NL to differ materially from the information set forth herein, although such information reflects forecasts and projections prepared in good faith based upon methods and data that are believed to be reasonable and accurate as at the dates thereof and although all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the facts stated herein are accurate and that the forward-looking statements, opinions and expectations contained herein are based on fair and reasonable assumptions. Western Areas NL undertakes no obligation to revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Individuals should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are advised to make their own independent analysis and determination with respect to the forecasted periods, which reflect Western Areas NL’s view only as of the date hereof.

The information within this PowerPoint presentation was compiled by Mr. Julian Hanna and the information as it relates to mineral resources and reserves was prepared by Mr. Dan Lougher and Mr. John Haywood. Mr. Hanna, Mr. Lougher and Mr. Haywood are full time employees of Western Areas. Mr. Hanna, Mr. Lougher and Mr. Haywood are members of AusIMM and have sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as Competent Persons as defined in the 2004 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Mr. Hanna, Mr. Lougher and Mr. Haywood consent to the inclusion in this presentation of the matters based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.

DISCLAIMER AND FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT

THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S.

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BOARDTerry Streeter – Chairman and 16.6% shareholderJulian Hanna – Managing Director and CEOCraig Oliver – Finance Director and Company SecretaryDaniel Lougher – Operations DirectorDavid Cooper – Independent DirectorRobin Dunbar – Independent Director, Toronto basedRick Yeates – Independent Director

Western Areas – Corporate

ASX & TSX LISTED - ASX 200

ISSUED CAPITAL: 179M shares, 9M options

MARKET CAPITAL: A$920M @ A$5.15/share

FINANCIAL

CASH: A$90M

FINANCE FACILITIES: A$80M (drawn to A$60M) ANZA$45M BHP Billiton

CONVERTIBLE BOND: A$209M - 8% coupon - converts $8.16 - July 2012

EXPLORATION: A$16M Budget in 2009

DIVIDEND POLICY: 50% of net profit after tax4

12 MONTH SHARE PRICE - WSA

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Highlights – past year

Flying Fox Mine• US$1.96/lb nickel average cash costs before smelting/refining• 10,330t nickel produced at average grade 4.1% Ni• Agreement with Kagara Ltd to mine Lounge Lizard

Spotted Quoll Mine • Triple mineral resource to 2.0Mt @ 6.2% Ni for 125,500t Ni• Development of initial open pit mine commenced, Oct 09• Feasibility study underway for major underground mine

Cosmic Boy nickel concentrator• Stage 1 (300,000tpa ore) successfully commissioned• Achieving 91-93% recovery, expect further improvements• Stage 2 expansion under construction, target March 2010

Offtake Agreements • Terminated nickel sale contract with Norilsk Nickel• Negotiated 10,000tpa contract with BHP Billiton• Negotiated 2 year contract with Jinchuan Group in China

Growth targets• Double production to 20,000tpa nickel in CY 2010• Discover new Flying Fox or Spotted Quoll type deposit• Apply Bacterial leaching of low grade ores in Finland

• Deposit Type – high grade massive sulphides underlying granite intrusions

• Mineral Resources – Rapid growth in mineral resources & ore reserves

• Target – >1.0Mt nickel in high quality mineral resources

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FORRESTANIA - is this a “world class” nickel camp?

Note: The above graph shows current announced Mineral Resources for the Flying Fox, Spotted Quoll, Diggers South, New Morning and Cosmic Boy deposits it also includes Kagara’s Ltd’s announced Mineral Resource for the Lounge Lizard deposit.This excludes low grade Mineral Resources at Flying Fox and Lounge Lizard.

400,000t Ni

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WSA Ore ReservesAustralian Nickel DepositsGlobal Nickel Deposits

Note: Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll open pit are ore reserve grades. Spotted Quoll underground and Diggers South are based on scoping studies and feasibility studies and New Morning and Cosmic Boy are estimates of underground mining grades.

Global Ore Reserve Grades

Current high quality Mineral Resources

Western Areas – Nickel ProjectsCENTRAL YILGARN NICKEL PROVINCE

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Western Areas dominates 500km long nickel province in Western Australia

Recent high grade nickel discoveries on Western Areas projects (red stars)

Two other known nickel provinces: Leinster and Kambalda (yellow)

Two high grade mines on major geological contact. Excellent potential for more discoveries.

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• Current Mineral Resources – >400,000 tonnes nickel (incl. Lounge Lizard)

• Target Production – >25,000 tpa Nickel from 2 main mines. 3 other planned mines

• Target Metallurgical Recovery – 93% Nickel into high quality 14% Ni concentrate

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FORRESTANIA - target annual production & recoveries

Note: production target graph represents WSA targets based on an estimate of annual nickel production from Flying Fox, initial potential production estimates from Lounge Lizard and preliminary estimates from Spotted Quoll. Production targets are not all based on ore reserves or feasibility studies and may be varied at any time. Potential or existing investors should not rely on these production targets as a basis to invest in Western Areas NL.

25,000t Ni

35,000t Ni

9 Year Mine Production Targets

1 0

T1 – in production

T4 – commencing production & drilling extensions

13,500 t nickel in high grade (5.8% Ni) Mineral Resource

Lounge Lizard – access agreement with Kagara

53,100 t nickel in high grade (4.6% Ni) Mineral Resource

T5 – production early 2010. 4- 5 years ore reserves

69,200 t nickel in high grade (6.8% Ni) Mineral Resource49,700 t nickel in high grade (5.9% Ni) Ore Reserves

T6/T7 – Mineral Resource drilling required

3 nickel zones, 5 EM conductors, 9% nickel intersected

Flying Fox Mine – longitudinal projection (1st mine)

Five high grade nickel deposits Extend 1km vertical extent to 1400m depth.

Mine decline currently at 870m depth

Ore Reserve grade increases at depthfrom 4.1% to 5.9% nickel

Flying Fox – grade distribution of T4, T5, T6 and T7

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• High Grade Core - >5% Ni zones extend over 500m vertical extent

• Geometry – structure of high grade ore shoots now apparent

• Potential Extensions – North of T5, T6, T7 still to be drilled

• Depth Extensions – Open at depth. T7 rotated 45 degrees and moved northwards below fault

NEW INTERPRETATION

OPEN

OPEN

Flying Fox – continuous high grades to 1400m depth

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- 400m

- 200m

- 600m

- 800m

- 1000m

-1400m

- 1200m

PROBABLE ORE RESERVE – OPEN PIT MINE

390,000t @ 5.1% Ni containing 19,900t NickelEstimated cash cost : <US$2.00/lb Ni

------------------------------------------------------

CURRENT MINERAL RESOURCE2Mt @ 6.2% Ni for 125,460t Nickel (to 640m depth)

SCOPING STUDY FOR MAJOR UNDEGROUND MINE

TARGET 10 YEARS PRODUCTION, 10,000tpa NICKEL

DRILLING UNDERWAY FOR EXTENSIONS

HIGH GRADE NICKEL INTERSECTED IN NEWNICKEL ZONE, 600m BELOW MINERAL RESOURCE

Spotted Quoll – 2nd Mine (open pit, underground)

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Spotted Quoll Mine – longitudinal projection. (2nd mine)

Spotted Quoll – continuous high grade Ni to 640m depthNew high grade zone discovered 600m below resource

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Cosmic Boy – (planned 3rd mine)

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Portal exposed for new development - 2009

Outokumpu Mine 1994

COSMIC BOY – first ore expected from South End deposit, accessed from existing mine

decline. Large nickel system, open at depth

MINERAL RESOURCECORE ZONE ONLY

Indicated Mineral Resource3.0Mt @ 1.5% Ni for 44,700t Ni

Diggers South – (planned 4th mine)

SURFACE SITE WORKS COMPLETE

Intention is to use existing Outokumpu mine infrastructure to access Core Zone Deposit at 200m depth

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Forrestania – major infrastructure complete

ACCOMMODATION VILLAGE

465 rooms with all amenities

INFRASTRUCTURE

Major roads, airstrip, grid power, village, offices

Plant: 10 years tailings storage, bore fields etc

STAFF AND CONTRACTORS

Experienced & highly skilled mining workforce

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AWARD WINNING GEOLOGICAL TEAM Forrestania core yard

NICKEL CONCENTRATOR – double capacity by March 10

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STAGE TWO UPGRADE IN PROGRESS TO INCREASE CAPACITY TO 550,000tpa ORE

2010 onwards>10,000tpa Ni

WESTERN AREAS – offtake agreements

JINCHUAN SMELTER

GANSU, CHINA

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BHP BILLITON SMELTER

KALGOORLIE

200910,000tpa Ni

FORRESTANIA - OFFTAKE CONTRACTS

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35,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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Norilsk contract BHP Contract Jinchuan Contract Future contracts

WESTERN AREAS – What is the growth strategy?

• Production – double production to 20,000tpa nickel in CY 2010 at Forrestania

• Processing – expand capacity of nickel concentrator in two stages

• Exploration – discover another high grade Flying Fox type deposit at Forrestania

• BioHeap Leaching – Apply on large, low grade deposits in Australia and Finland

208.2% Ni

7.4% Ni

8.8% Ni

9.2% Ni

7.9% Ni

8.2% Ni

7.4% Ni

8.8% Ni

9.2% Ni

7.9% Ni

‘BioHeap’ – Bacterial leaching technology

• Use – low cost treatment of large, low grade nickel and copper sulphide deposits

• Technology – bacterial leaching of ores to produce a range of refinery products

• History – 15 years of testwork on many projects with world wide patents

• Opportunity – treat large low grade nickel deposits in Australia and Finland

• 6 month Option – Western Areas conducting due diligence to acquire 100% interest

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New Access Gate

FINLAND JV – Exploring for Talvivaara type deposits

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FINLAND

Excellent infrastructure, low sovereign risk

Potential for more ‘Talvivaara Type’ deposits

Low cost entry into major mineral province

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Power LineNew Access Gate

Talvivaara Ni/Zn/Cu mine – bacterial leaching technology

FINLAND - TALVIVAARA OPEN PIT MINE – Large Scale Bacterial Leaching Mine

Initial Announced Production Targets : 33,000 tpa Nickel, 60,000 tpa zinc, 10,000 tpa copper

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Power LineNew Access Gate

Rautavaara Project - 50km south of Talvivaara

RAUTAVAARA

Previous drilling intersected Talvivaara type nickel and zinc grades in wide zones up to 125m wide

Potential for significant extensions to known sulphide mineralisation at shallow depth

Drilling has tested only small part of potential along a 10km long project, defined by magnetics & EM

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AUSTRALIA CANADA CHINA RUSSIA FINLAND BRAZIL AFRICA

2 nickel camps 4 nickel camps 1 nickel camp 2 nickel camps

BHP BILLITON VALE INCO JINCHUAN NORILSK NORILSK VOTORANTIM BCL

XSTRATA JILIN JIEN

1 smelter 4 smelters 3 smelters 4 smelters 1 smelter 1 smelter 1 smelter

Western Areas FNX Talvivaara * Mirabela * Norilsk

IndependenceMustang * Xstrata

MincorCrow Flight *

Panoramic Liberty *Victory *

C. Royalties *

Xstrata

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NICKEL SULPHIDE - smelters and producers

1 colour coded for offtake party

2 nickel camp is >1.0Mt contained nickel

3 * project : commissioning or feasibility stage

NICKEL PRICE - Have we seen the worst ?

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$4 FLOOR

RECOVERY

Chinese stainless steel growth

NICKEL – Supply and Demand

GLOBAL SUPPLY:

Nickel Sulphides ~50%

Nickel Laterites ~40%

Nickel Pig Iron 5-10%

GLOBAL DEMAND:

1.2 – 1.4m tpa Nickel

NICKEL USE:

Stainless Steel ~62%

Alloys ~20%

Plating ~10%

Other incl Batteries ~8%

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PECHENGA

THOMSON

JINCHUAN

KAMBALDA

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KABANGA

FORRESTANIA

 

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1883 1890 1897 1904 1911 1918 1925 1932 1939 1946 1953 1960 1967 1974 1981 1988 1995 2002 2009

The problem with Nickel Sulphides

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Mt N

icke

lDiscovery Year

SULPHIDE MINE PRODUCTION - NOT BEING

REPLACED BY NEW ORE RESERVES

NICKEL – THE UNDERLYING PROBLEMS

Two largest nickel camps contribute ~40% global nickel supply but were

discovered >80 years ago

NO MAJOR NEW DISCOVERIES

1) NICKEL SULPHIDES

3) NICKEL PIG IRONChinese nickel pig iron plants contribute 5-10%

global production

V HIGH ENERGY COST

2) NICKEL LATERITESLaterite and Ferro Nickel Mines contribute ~40%

global production

HIGH CAPEX ($3-5Bn),

HIGH ENERGY COST.

NICKEL PIG IRON - ENERGY INTENSIVE

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CHINA – Nickel Smelters & Nickel Pig Iron industry

Jinchuan Nickel Smelter

Jilin Jien Nickel SmelterNickel Pig Iron Industry

NICKEL INDUSTRY – Summary

• Sulphides – Nickel industry needs another “World Class” sulphide discovery

• Laterites – required to meet demand (high capital cost requires US$8 – 10/lb nickel)

• Nickel Pig Iron – China expanding production (but energy intensive and polluting)

• Price – analysts underestimating the impact of medium to long term supply issues

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WESTERN AREAS – Summary

• Goal – to be Australia’s 2nd largest & highest grade nickel producer by 2011

• Flying Fox Mine – already one of the lowest cash cost nickel mines in Australia

• Spotted Quoll Mine – high grade open pit & underground mine, in development

• BioHeap leaching – TARGET: bacterial leaching of low grade ores in Finland

• Prestige Industry Awards – “Digger Award 2008” and “Prospector Award 2009”

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