Tag Archives: Voisey’s Bay

Vale Base Metals completes transition to underground mining at Voisey’s Bay

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Vale Base Metals has completed construction and commissioning of its $2.94 billion Voisey’s Bay Mine Expansion Project in northern Labrador, a major milestone that will increase production of nickel in concentrate to 45,000 t/y.

The expansion project transitioned Voisey’s Bay from open pit to underground mining. The project involved the development of two underground mines – Reid Brook and Eastern Deeps – which will deliver concentrate for processing at the company’s Long Harbour Processing Plant, one of the lowest-emission nickel processing plants in the world.

In addition to the increased nickel production, the project will add 20,000 t/y of copper and 2,600 t/y of cobalt. Full ramp-up of the project is expected in the second half of 2026.

These critical minerals, delivered from a stable jurisdiction with a long history of support for mining, are shipped globally for industrial uses including defense manufacturing, battery electric vehicles, and clean energy infrastructure. Voisey’s Bay is a major supplier of nickel to the United States.

The project completion also represents a crucial milestone for enhancing the competitiveness of the company’s Canadian operations and will contribute to reducing unit costs in the nickel business segment.

“The successful completion of the Voisey’s Bay expansion demonstrates our commitment to unlocking the value of our endowment and delivering responsibly produced nickel to global markets,” Shaun Usmar, CEO of Vale Base Metals, the critical minerals subsidiary of Vale SA, says.

“Ensuring local economic benefits from Voisey’s Bay remains a key priority for the company, and we are proud of the collaborative relationship we have with Indigenous Partners, Innu Nation & Nunatsiavut Government, on whose traditional lands the Voisey’s Bay complex is located.”

With the completion of the expansion, the number of direct employees at Voisey’s Bay now stands at 1,100, up from about 600 pre-expansion. At the peak of the expansion project, 3,400 direct and indirect employees worked at Voisey’s Bay.

This project underscores Vale Base Metals’ commitment to serve as a catalyst for social and economic growth including local employment, procurement, capacity-building, Indigenous partnership, and shared benefits for our stakeholders.

Voisey’s Bay entered production in 2005 and, with the completion of the expansion project, will continue to be an important engine of economic growth in Newfoundland & Labrador and provide low-carbon, high-purity nickel for many years to come.

Vale gears up for Voisey’s Bay restart

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Vale says it has moved from care and maintenance into a planned maintenance period at the Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador, Canada as a first step to resuming operations in early July.

This move includes restarting critical path activities related to the Voisey’s Bay Mine Expansion project, which could see annual production increase to around 45,000 t of nickel, on average, about 20,000 t of copper and about 2,600 t of cobalt, in total.

The planned return to production follows a period of three months of monitoring progress and events associated with the COVID-19 outbreak. Initially, on March 16, the company announced a four-week care and maintenance period for the mine due to the “unique remoteness of the area” and as a precaution to help protect the health and well-being of Nunatsiavut and Innu indigenous communities in Labrador in the face of the COVID-19 spread. This was subsequently extended.

Production is expected to resume in early July and to reach full capacity by early August, it said.

“In line with World Health Organization protocols to test, remove, track and treat positive or suspicious cases, Vale is partnering with a private testing lab in Newfoundland & Labrador to provide extensive polymerase chain reaction testing of all employees entering the site,” Vale explained.

“The enhanced testing capacity enables the early identification, tracing and stopping of the spread of any potential COVID-19 cases.”

Vale noted that there have been no cases of COVID-19 to date at site.

Vale extends care and maintenance period at Voisey’s Bay

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Vale says it is extending the care and maintenance period at its Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador, Canada, by up to three months while continuing to monitor progress and events associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 16, Vale announced a four-week care and maintenance period at Voisey’s Bay due to the “unique remoteness of the area” and as a precaution to help protect the health and well-being of Nunatsiavut and Innu indigenous communities in Labrador in the face of the COVID-19 spread.

The company said, as of yesterday, no employee at Voisey’s Bay had tested positive for the virus.

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

The company said: “Vale reaffirms its commitment to the safety of its people and the communities in which it operates and will keep investors and markets informed of future developments.”

Vale to ramp down Voisey’s Bay nickel mine for a month

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Vale has become the latest miner to react to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, saying it has taken the decision to ramp down its Voisey’s Bay nickel mining operation, in Canada, and place it on care and maintenance for a period of four weeks.

The move is 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, the company said. This is all part of the company’s plans to safeguard its employees, businesses and communities surrounding its operations from the threats posed by the outbreak.

Other miners such as Newmont, Anglo American and Rio Tinto have also reacted to the virus outbreak by either slowing down development projects (Oyu Tolgoi Underground and Quellaveco) or ramping down existing mines (Yanacocha).

Vale said: “Although none of our employees has tested positive for coronavirus at any of Vale’s global operations, Vale has taken this preventive action because of the unique remoteness of that area, with fly-in and fly-out operations, with higher exposure to travel.”

The company said it will work together with the communities and authorities to ensure its operations do not act as a “catalyst to inadvertently introduce the virus in these communities”.

Operations at Vale’s open-pit mine and concentrator at Voisey’s Bay in Labrador began in 2005. This 6,000 t/d facility produces two types of concentrate: nickel-cobalt-copper concentrate and copper concentrate. Nickel concentrate produced at Voisey’s Bay is currently processed at the hydrometallurgical processing facility in Long Harbour, Newfoundland.

While the mining operation will shut down, the Long Harbour Processing Plant (LHPP) will continue to operate, Vale said. Nickel and cobalt production should not be affected given the availability of stockpiled concentrates to feed the LHPP well past the four-week care and maintenance period, but copper concentrate production at site will be reduced proportionally in line with the period of the mine stoppage (Voisey’s Bay produced 25,000 t of copper concentrate in 2019), it said. The decision also impacts on the Voisey’s Bay Mine Expansion project, which is currently underway to transition to underground operations.

Vale also said that, due to travel and equipment transportation restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is revisiting its plans for the Mozambique coal processing plants stoppage. The halting of operations was previously expected to start in the June quarter of this year, with a new date under evaluation. This could ultimately affect coal production guidance for 2020, it said.

Due to the outbreak, the great majority of Vale’s and third-party employees based in its corporate offices are, from today, working from home. “The measure aims to safeguard our employees, reducing the number of people in the same workspace and the exposure to public spaces, such as buses, subways and elevators,” it said.