Inco enters new development phase at Goro

While falling short of actually making a production decision, Inco (N-T) has announced it is advancing its Goro nickel-cobalt project in New Caledonia to a new stage of development, keeping it on-track to begin commercial production in late 2004 or early 2005.

In October 1999, Inco opened a US$50-million, 12-tonne-per-day pilot plant at Goro and began testing its proprietary pressure-acid-leach (PAL) technology.

The company is studying the pilot-plant data while it considers proceeding with a full US$1.3-billion commercial operation capable of producing 55,000 tonnes nickel and 5,000 tonnes cobalt annually at a cash production cost below US$1 per lb. nickel after cobalt credits at US$7 per lb.

“The pilot program . . . has given us great confidence that we can successfully apply our technology on a commercial scale,” says Inco President Scott Hand.

Inco has said its PAL process is superior to that of its Australian competitors in several respects: ore is treated at a higher temperature, thereby reducing the leaching time and the number of autoclaves required; a simpler solvent-extraction process is required; and the resulting nickel oxide product is preferred by refineries in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. (Other laterite operations produce a finished product, such as electro-nickel and hydrogen-reduced nickel.) Also, the technology does not use saline water and is therefore less susceptible to corrosion.

Inco has budgeted a further US$100 million for work at Goro in 2001. Its major goals during this phase include: completing a bankable feasibility study in the first quarter; arranging financing for the commercial plant; carrying out more testing at the pilot plant; selecting an engineering-construction consortium to build the commercial plant; preparing engineering plans for the commercial plant; and completing discussions with the New Caledonian government regarding taxes, regulations and permits.

Inco will spend another US$5 million creating a centre close to Goro to be used in training local Caledonians for work in building and operating the commercial plant.

Goro hosts resources in excess of 200 million tonnes averaging 1.6% nickel and 0.17% cobalt, plus 47 million tonnes at similar grades in the proven and probable category.

Goro is currently held 85% by Inco and 15% by French government-owned Bureau de recherches gologiques et minires (BRGM). However, Inco is keen to bring in a new partner to spread out the debt load. It’s also expected that BRGM — which is traditionally focused on early-stage projects — will sell its interest in the project.

The positive news about Goro ought to put a damper on anyone’s hopes that Inco’s stalled Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt project in Labrador will be developed any time soon.

Apart from the Newfoundland government’s well-known intransigence regarding the construction of a smelter-refinery in the province, two more factors are conspiring to make the Voisey’s Bay project less attractive in the short-to-medium term: nickel prices are showing more weakness as evidence mounts that there is a slowing in the U.S. economy, and lending markets have tightened considerably as the meltdown in the high-tech sector continues into its 10th month.

Even before making any commitments to Goro, Inco’s total debt on Sept. 30, 2000, was a hefty US$1.04 billion, and more recently, the company spent another $195 million retiring its Class VBN shares (T.N.M., Dec. 11-17/00).

And lastly, much excess capacity at Inco’s smelters in Thompson, Man., and Sudbury, Ont., is being taken up by two new sources of nickel-concentrate feed from Western Australia.

Australian-listed LionOre Nickel, a 76%-owned subsidiary of LionOre Mining International (LIM-T), has just announced it will develop its wholly owned Emily Ann nickel-sulphide project in Western Australia following completion of financing deals with Inco and merchant banker N.M. Rothschild.

In April, LionOre Nickel negotiated a long-term off-take agreement with Inco, whereby LionOre will provide Inco with all of its Emily Ann nickel concentrate production, estimated at 6,700 tonnes of payable nickel annually. The material will be shipped to the major’s Canadian smelters.

A nickel-sulphide deposit, Emily Ann contains reserves of 1.2 million tonnes grading 3.4% nickel and a resource of 2.1 million tonnes grading 3.98% nickel.

LionOre plans to mine the deposit via a decline at an average total cash operating cost of US$1.55 per lb. of payable nickel, including smelting, refining and byproduct credits. Production could begin as early as the first quarter of 2002.

In mid-2000, Inco’s Manitoba Division was due to receive its first nickel concentrate from the Cosmos nickel project, also in Western Australia. The mine, owned by Australian-listed Jubilee Mines, is expected to provide Thompson with 31,780 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate over the next three years.