Name and Location
Koniambo ferronickel project, New Caledonia.

Client
Koniambo Nickel, in which Glencore owns a 49% stake in Koniambo Nickel SAS; the remaining 51% share is held by New Caledonian joint venture partner Société Minière du Pacifique Sud (SMSP).

Project Description
The Koniambo project is a pyrometallurgical complex for the production of ferronickel. Facilities at the operation will include the laterite mine, ore-transport facilities, a pyrometallurgical ore processing plant, with associated utilities, as well as a coal-fired power plant and other infrastructure, including a deep-water private port and an 11 km overland conveyor.

Koniambo will be among the world’s lowest-cost producers of nickel, with an initial production of 60 000 t/y of nickel in ferronickel, and substantial further high-return, brownfield expansion potential.

Koniambo benefits from a world-class resource base, providing a life-of-mine of more than 25 years from 62.5-million tons of saprolite reserves, grading 2.40% nickel at a 2.0% cutoff grade.

This major resource also has the potential to extend the life-of-mine to well over 50 years of economic production. The resource base currently comprises 142.1-million tons of measured and indicated saprolite resources at 2.13% nickel, at a 1.5% nickel cutoff grade, 140.7-million tons of inferred saprolite resource, grading 2.16% nickel (1.5% cutoff), and 104-million tons of inferred limonite resources at 1.5% nickel (1.2% cutoff).

Value
$7-billion.

Duration
The project was officially opened in November 2014.

Latest Developments
French President François Hollande officially opened the Koniambo nickel project on November 17.

New Caledonia-based SMSP, a nickel-ore exporter with JV processing operations in China and South Korea, is a founding partner in the 2 000-employee Koniambo, a ferronickel exporter.

Under way since 2007, the project will use state-of-the-art infrastructure and proven nickel smelting technology.

The majority-Glencore-financed project has provided 2 750 direct local jobs, 1 500 indirect jobs and 150 000 hours of training, injecting €1.9-billion worth of direct benefits into the area.

Eighty-five per cent of the contracts and orders went to New Caledonian suppliers for an operation that will provide ongoing employment for 950 people.

A series of initiatives to protect the area’s rich environmental diversity has accompanied the project, on which ten years were spent on environmental-impact assessments prior to the start of construction.

The mangroves removed to create a deep-water port have been replanted and a local community nursery is cultivating mangrove seedlings as part of an ongoing revegetation programme.

Erosion control measures have been introduced to protect threatened species and 1 200 colonies of coral were transplanted as a protective measure during port and channel construction.

Regular marine sampling has kept track of coral reef, and local stakeholders shared the results of weekly ambient air-quality monitoring on a website.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
Koniambo Nickel, tel +687 47 45 00.