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* Expects five-year stable development and then growth
* Will develop huge Australian nickel deposit in 5-10 years
* No reason to merge Norilsk with RUSAL

By Polina Devitt and Aleksandras Budrys

MOSCOW, June 24 (Reuters) - Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel is aiming to maintain overall stable production until 2015 when it expects new projects to drive growth, a company board member said.

Projects such as developing huge copper deposits in the Russia's southeast will contribute to the future rise in production, Brad Mills told Reuters in an interview, however he didn't specify the growth targets.

"The objective is to maintain production at current stable level, and the company is starting to invest in growth and then growth will impact production starting from 2015," he said.

Norilsk plans to invest between $1.23 million and $1.32 billion mainly in capital construction and modernisation of its mines and plants in Russia, under its capital expenditure programme till 2025.

Norilsk, the world's top nickel producer, plans to produce 299,000-309,000 tonnes of the metal this year compared with 282,894 tonnes in 2009, and 393,000-398,000 tonnes of copper, down from 402,214 tonnes last year.

It plans to produce 2.830-2.835 million ounces of platinum group metal palladium, of which it is also the top producer, this year, compared with 2.805 million in 2009 and 690,000-695,000 of sister metal platinum, up from 661,000 a year ago.

In May, Norilsk said it planned to cut its dependence on nickel by 2025 as it focused more on high returns from its capital investments and less on production levels. [ID:nLDE64H23J]

Mills, who has been with Norilsk since December 2008, was previously was the chief executive No.3 platinum producer Lonmin plc and president of the base metal division at the world's biggest miner BHP Billiton .

METALS PRICES TO IMPROVE IN 12-24 MONTHS

Norilsk expects prices for the metals it produces to improve after a decline caused by the recent economic downturn and fall in consumption, said Mills.

"There have been both a rebound in demand as well as a general reduction of supply in the face of low prices last year, which have yet to come back. Currently there is a tighter supply and demand situation," Mills said.

"We expect it to continue probably at a little slower pace going forward as we need to get through this period of uncertainty in Europe but we expect prices to improve generally in the next 12 to 24 months."

FOREIGN ASSET DISPOSAL

While concentrating on production in Russia, Norilsk plans to dispose of some of its foreign assets, including the U.S. sole platinum group metals producer Stillwater Mining Co and some assets in Australia, which are currently mothballed.

"The company (Norilsk) has taken a principal decision -- Stillwater Mining Co shares are not a core asset and we should look in due course to dispose of them," Mills said.

"The company is going through a normal process of looking at what is the best way to achieve the best value from the asset disposal."

In Australia, Norilsk is planning to sell its smaller mines and concentrate on a bigger project -- the undeveloped Honeymoon Well nickel deposit, located in the western part of the country.

"It (the deposit) needs quite a lot of work, drilling, feasibility work," Mills said.

"It is probably more than five years away before it could be developed. But it is a large asset and I believe in due course it will become important for the company. But it is five to 10 years away."

Mills said that Norilsk has no immediate plans to dispose of its assets in Africa and in Finland, which he said were performing well.

NO REASON TO MERGE WITH RUSAL

Mills said that he saw no reason for Norilsk to merge with the world's top aluminium producer RUSAL , which has a 25 percent stake in Norilsk.

RUSAL shareholders, including majority owner tycoon Oleg Deripaska, have long nurtured the possibility of a merger with Norilsk.

He said he saw no synergies from the merger as the two companies represented very different businesses.

The market prefers "high quality focused businesses, which have high margins and higher premiums in the market place," he said.

"To mix the two businesses would potentially confuse the market and may result in a lower valuation of the new company than that of the sum of its parts," Mills said. (Writing by Aleksandras Budrys; Editing by Alison Birrane)