Vale will proceed with an underground mine at the Voisey's Bay nickel operation in northern Labrador.
Diversified major Vale will proceed with the construction of the Voisey’s Bay underground mine and will invest close to $2-billion in the project, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball announced on Monday.
The investment by Vale will extend the operational life of Voisey’s Bay, currently an openpit mine, by about 15 years.
Vale halted the expansion project last year, when the company announced a review of its worldwide operations amid a persistent downturn in nickel prices.
Vale’s head of operations in Labrador, Peter Langlois, said that the company would immediately begin to ramp up its workforce and execute work to support underground development at Voisey’s Bay.
Construction would start this summer and first ore production from the underground mine was expected by no later than April 2021.
“We are entering a remarkable and exciting period of transition in our Labrador operations. We have always known that the openpit was going to be exhausted at some point and going underground was the next natural step,” Langlois said.
Vale executive director for base metals, Eduardo Bartolomeo, commented that its Voisey’s Bay operation was a “huge source of pride” for the group.
Located about 35 km south of Nain, Voisey’s Bay has been producing nickel since 2005. At peak production, the underground mines will produce about 40 000 t/y of nickel-in-concentrate, which will be shipped to Vale’s Long Harbour facility to be processed into finished nickel.
The expansion project will create 16 000 person years of employment during the five-year construction period, peaking at 4 800 in 2020. Once operational, 1 700 in jobs will be created at the underground mine and the Long Harbour processing plant.