"We are aiming to transact this year," he said on the sidelines of a commodity conference in Singapore.
The Julimar nickel project, one of the biggest nickel sulphide finds in recent years, also contains copper and palladium.
The site is only 70 km (43.5 miles) north-east of state capital Perth, in contrast to Western Australia's many remote mines, meaning it is near infrastructure and a skilled workforce.
Julimar is not expected to enter production until 2028. The search for an investor comes as automakers including Volkswagen and Stellantis are investing directly in miners to secure supply of minerals critical to electric vehicle batteries.
Volkswagen said last month that it wanted to meet half its global battery needs through its own production over the longer term.
Miners are also looking for nickel supplies as they set up processing plants, often with the help of generous government subsidies, seeking to add value, boost margins and diversify supply chains away from China.
Also near Perth, BHP Group is looking for more
nickel to feed its Nickel West sulphate plant while
lithium-nickel miner IGO is considering building a
nickel sulphate plant in the same area.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton and Naveen Thukral; Editing by
Jamie Freed)
