BHP has stood down around a quarter of the workforce building its $1.7 billion West Musgrave nickel and copper project in Western Australia, but says it remains committed to the development, which it acquired when it purchased OZ Minerals last year.

Last month, the resources major wrote down the value of its nickel business by $5.4 billion and suggested it could suspend work altogether. The West Musgrave project, a large but very remote greenfield site, was 21 per cent complete in February.