Voisey's Bay Mine

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In September, 1993, prospectors exploring northern Labrador for diamonds discovered the Voisey's Bay nickel deposit in Labrador. It lies on the eastern edge of a vast expanse of northern wilderness, 350 km north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In 1996, Vale Ltd. (Inco) acquired the rights to the Voisey's Bay property.

The 1.3 Ga Voisey's Bay Ni-Cu-Co magmatic sulfide deposit, located in northern Labrador, Canada, consists of several mineralized zones hosted by troctolites and gabbros of the Nain Plutonic Suite. The near-surface Ovoid is a bowl-shaped mass of massive sulfide approximately 800 metres long by 350 metres wide and up to 125 metres thick. It contains 32 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves at 2.8% nickel, 1.6% copper and 0.14% cobalt, and is presently being open-pit mined. Disseminated sulfides are dispersed in the silicate host rocks surrounding the massive ore.

The Voisey’s Bay development consists of three major components: an integrated mine and concentrator at the Voisey’s Bay site in Labrador that will process ore from the Voisey’s Bay deposit; a demonstration hydrometallurgical plant in Argentia to confirm the technological and commercial application of hydrometallurgical technology for Voisey's Bay concentrate; and a processing facility. Construction of the mine and concentrator is complete and mining activity is underway. Vale began processing its first ore in August 2005. Construction of the hydromet demonstration plant was completed in October 2005 and the final phase of the R&D program was completed and the demonstration plant closed in June 2008.

Following the completion of the R&D program, Vale began construction of a processing facility at Long Harbour, Newfoundland that will produce finished nickel product. This facility will cost in the order of US$2.8 billion and during operations employ about 475 people. Construction of the Long Harbour Processing Plant is expected to generate approximately 5,750 person-years of employment.

The first attached picture shows an aerial view of the mine area and the last picture shows a distant view of the open pit.


Reference for information:
www.vbnc.com/ProjectOverview.asp
www.vbnc.com/OperationsMineConcentrator.asp