Western Areas Forrestania Operation Power Interruption

PERTH, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - Nov. 18, 2015) -

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S.

Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) ("Western Areas" or the "Company") advises that a regional bushfire, located approximately 35 kilometres to the north of the Company's Forrestania operations, has crossed grid power supply lines and as a result, power to the mine site has been temporarily lost. The fire is of no physical threat to the Forrestania personnel or operations at this time.

Department of Fire & Emergency Services have advised that the fire has now been contained in the area near the power lines and Western Power is working to restore power services as soon as possible.

On-site back-up power generation is currently being utilised, however the Cosmic Boy mill operations are currently shut down until mains power transmission is restored, which is now expected to occur within 48 hours.

Whilst the temporary loss of mains power will result in a short-term impact on production, the Company does not expect there to be any adverse impact on meeting existing FY16 production guidance.

Western Areas will update the market and clarify the position in due course.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT:

This release contains certain forward-looking statements including nickel production targets. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward looking words such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "continue", and "guidance", or other similar words and may include, without limitation, statements regarding plans, strategies and objectives of management, anticipated production and expected costs.

Examples of forward looking statements used in this report include: "mains power transmissions are restored, which is now expected to occur within 48 hours".

These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's ability to control or predict which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements.

This announcement does not include reference to all available information on the Company and should not be used in isolation as a basis to invest in Western Areas. Any potential investors should refer to Western Area's other public releases and statutory reports and consult their professional advisers before considering investing in the Company.