Voisey’s Bay clears final hurdle (July 01, 2002)

The Labrador Inuit Association and the Innu Nation, two of Labrador’s aboriginal groups, have voted to accept impacts-and-benefits agreements with Inco (N-T) regarding development of the Voisey’s Bay nickel project.

The Inuit group approved the deal with a 1,608-to-344 vote, while the Innu vote passed with a 203-vote margin of 383 to 180. Leaders from both groups had previously endorsed the deal.

The agreements include employment targets and training commitments.

Approval of the agreements paves the way for construction of a US$470-million, 6,000-tonne-per-day mine-and-mill complex at Voisey’s Bay. The company will also lay the groundwork for an US$85-million demonstration hydrometallurgical processing plant at Argentia, on the island’s Avalon Peninsula. Construction is slated to begin in July.

Plans for 2002 also call for the completion of a final feasibility study on mine production. Mine construction would start in 2003, and startup would follow in 2006. Concentrates will initially go to the company’s existing smelters in Sudbury, Ont., or Thompson, Man., for processing.

Inco has agreed to send concentrate, matte, or ore containing equivalent amounts of metal to what was shipped out of the province from Voisey’s to Argentia once its plant is up and running.

The company expects to spend about US$35 million by the end of March 2003. In all, the 30-year deal is expected to pump US$1.9 billion into the province.

The mine and mill at Voisey’s Bay will create about 400 direct operating jobs; a similar number would staff the Argentia processing facility.

A definitive agreement between Inco and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador is slated for signing by the end of September.