Vale extends Voisey’s Bay shutdown by up to 3 months

9th April 2020 By: Creamer Media Reporter

The Voisey’s Bay mine, in Labrador, Canada, will remain on care and maintenance for up to another three months, because of the coronavirus, Brazilian major Vale reported on Thursday.

On March 16, Vale announced a four-week care-and-maintenance period at Voisey's Bay mine, owing to the unique remoteness of the area and as a precaution to help protect the health and wellbeing of Nunatsiavut and Innu Indigenous communities in Labrador in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

No employee at Voisey's Bay has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Vale said that the Long Harbour processing plant would continue to operate, drawing down on stockpiled concentrates to produce nickel and cobalt at forecast levels. Copper concentrate production at the site would be reduced, owing to the mine stoppage, with an impact of up to 6 000 t in the first half of 2020.