TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Toronto-based Sherritt International would like to have another big project to plan and build once its Ambatovy nickel/cobalt mine in Madagascar is completed, CEO Ian Delaney said on Tuesday.

Ambatovy is one of two large nickel laterite projects nearing production – the second is Brazilian miner Vale's Goro mine, in New Caledonia.

Although both have been delayed for various reasons, the eventual start-ups at the two operations will lead to increased valuations being attributed to nickel laterite assets across the board, Delaney said in a presentation at the RBC Global Mining and Materials Conference.

After several high-profile disappointments, there is a lot of scepticism over whether laterite nickel operations, which employ costly high-pressure acid leach processes to treat the ore, can run economically, he commented.

“Well that's ok. As long as that is the prevailing opinion then lateritic resources will be cheap,” Delaney said.

“And before we become victims of our own success, we'd like to acquire more.”

Delaney reiterated that Sherritt's nickel laterite assets have been operating profitably in Cuba for decades.

Sherritt owns 40% of the Ambatovy project, Sumitomo and a consortium led by Korea Resources each have a 27,5% stake in the mine, and the project's engineering contractor, SNC-Lavalin, also has a 5% interest.

Once in full production, the mine is expected to produce 60 000 t/y of nickel and 5 600 t/y of cobalt.

Sherritt also has nickel, gas, oil and electricity generation assets in Cuba and coal operations in Canada.

The firm, which is the biggest foreign investor in Cuba, may look outside of the Caribbean island nation for future growth, Delaney said in response to a question.

When it comes to assessing potential acquisitions, Sherritt will look at for good grades, in welcoming political jurisdictions, and with access to infrastructure, he said.

"But really, it's grade, grade, grade," he added.

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