BASE METALS SPECIAL — Inco awaits study results for Goro nickel deposit in New Caledonia

By the end of 1996, Inco (N-T) expects to have received results of a study to determine the economics of developing the Goro nickel deposit on the South Pacific island of New Caledonia.

Inco owns 85% of the laterite nickel project, with an arm of the French government holding a 15% interest.

Part of this huge deposit has been drilled in sufficient density to outline a resource of 165 million tons grading 1.6% nickel and 0.16% cobalt. The project has an appreciable cobalt content and is amenable to open-pit mining, and Inco views it as a potentially low-cost source of nickel.

The processing route being considered for Goro is aimed at recovering both nickel and cobalt through a process of pressure acid-leaching, combined with solvent extraction.

The hydrometallurgical process has already been pilot-tested at Inco’s research laboratory, with “promising results.” The process is proprietary and, assuming success on a commercial scale, could provide Inco with the means to exploit other laterite nickel deposits.

Meanwhile, the company is proceeding with a $580-million expansion at its 59%-held nickel operation in Indonesia. The program will raise production capacity to 150 million lb. of nickel annually, with construction expected to be completed by late 1998.

Another new project waiting in the wings is the Barro Alto deposit in Brazil, which contains 36 million tonnes of proven and probable lateritic reserves grading 1.94% nickel. Plans calls for a plant with an annual capacity of some 40 million lb. nickel-in-matte, to be sold in the Asian market for further refining.

Inco has taken on Korea Zinc as a partner at Barro Alto. Under the agreement, Korea Zinc and its affiliates can acquire up to 49% of the project.

Engineering work is in progress.

At presstime, Inco was awaiting clarification of certain legal issues that have stalled its proposed takeover of Diamond Fields Resources (DFR-T), owner of the Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt deposit in Labrador.

In the meantime, Inco’s goal is to produce 430 million lb. of nickel this year from operations worldwide, including mines at Sudbury, Ont., and Thompson, Man.

By 1998, this is expected to increase to 480 million lb. through investments under way or being planned (not including Voisey’s Bay, Goro or Barro Alto).

Inco’s exploration plans include working its Dowling North prospect on the northern rim of Ontario’s Sudbury Basin. Last year’s drilling intersected mineralization at a depth of 7,400 ft. grading 2.38% nickel, 1.66% copper and 0.061 oz. platinum group metals.

Also last year, Inco carried out grassroots exploration for base metal massive sulphide targets in Alaska and Turkey and porphyry copper-gold in Indonesia and Chile. Based on favorable results from those programs, the company plans to increase its exploration for copper and gold in Indonesia and base metals in Turkey.

Inco also plans to evaluate several opportunities for base metals exploration in Brazil.