Glencore to close, sell unprofitable New Caledonia nickel mines
The Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS), a joint venture (JV) between Société Minière du Sud Pacifique SA and Glencore in New Caledonia, will transition into care and maintenance, it was announced on Monday.
Glencore, which acquired the operation as part of its 2013 Xstrata transaction, said that high operating costs and the current weak nickel market conditions meant that KNS remained unprofitable.
“Glencore is appreciative of the French government’s efforts to revitalise and rescue the nickel industry in New Caledonia; however, even with the proposed assistance, KNS remains an unsustainable operation and Glencore cannot justify continuing to fund losses to the detriment of its shareholders,” the Swiss-headquartered company said in a statement on Monday.
For more than a decade, Glencore has been the primary funder of KNS without ever realising a profit.
The company said it would initiate a process to identify a potential new industrial partner for KNS.
The major would fund KNS according to an agreed budget as the operation transitioned to a state of care and maintenance.
The furnaces would remain hot for six months, and the KNS team would support the critical activities required to maintain the integrity of the asset and keep the site secure.
All local KNS employees will be retained for a period of six months to aid in the transition.
Low nickel prices are pushing nickel miners to halt or slow down projects as they look to cut down on costs and protect margins amid a rapid decline in prices owing to increased supply from Indonesia.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Established on 1 March, 2000, by Barries Barnard, Advanced Fire Suppression Technologies (AFST) and the Advanced Group stands as Sub-Saharan...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
