Talks between the Newfoundland government and Inco (N-T) aimed at reviving the long-stalled Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt project in Labrador have been quietly clipping along behind closed doors since the two sides returned to the table on June 18, according to Reuters.
The province says the talks are still under way and there is no time-frame for a conclusion.
Newfoundland Premier Roger Grimes hoped for some resolution by the end of August, but Darrell Mercer, a provincial spokesman, says there is nothing to report.
“We are still continuing in negotiations. They are still just progressing,” he told Reuters. “We don’t want to put a time-frame on this. So I don’t expect to hear anything by tomorrow.”
The Newfoundland government wants Inco to build a smelter-refinery complex, or a hydrometallurgical plant, to produce refined nickel on the island.
Inco insists that the plant would have to meet the company’s economic criteria in order to be built.
This stand-off derailed the project’s development in mid-1998 and, despite sporadic negotiations and a series of new development proposals from Inco, the government has yet to agree to grant a mining lease.
Construction costs for a commercial hydrometallurgical plant are pegged at $1 billion. Another $1.2 billion in capital expenditures would be made over the 30-year life of the project for expansions and sustaining capital.
Inco is awaiting word on its application to the federal Technology Partnerships Canada program for funding to test the hydrometallurgical process on Voisey’s sulphide concentrate.
The process eliminates the need for smelting to recover nickel, cobalt and copper concentrate.
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