Vale (NYSE: VALE), the world’s top producer of nickel and iron ore, is fine-tuning details to reopen its Voisey’s Bay open pit nickel mine and concentrator in Canada, next month.
Full capacity at the northern Labrador-based operation should be reached in August, the Brazilian mining giant said on Thursday.
Vale initially placed Voisey’s Bay mine on care and maintenance for four weeks as a precaution amid the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. It later extended the measure for up to three months, leaving an ongoing mine expansion project on hold.
Full capacity at the northern Labrador-based nickel operation should be reached in August.
In 2015, Vale launched the Voisey’s Bay Mine Expansion (VBME) project to promote the transition from open pit to underground mining. Construction began in 2016 and is expected to be completed by 2022.
The VBME project is expected to extend the mine life of Voisey’s Bay, with annual underground mine production of around 45,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate on average, as well as about 20,000 tonnes of copper and 2,600 tonnes of cobalt.
Vale noted there had been no coronavirus cases registered at the mine to date. It added it was partnering with a private testing lab in Newfoundland & Labrador to provide extensive polymerise chain reaction (PCR) testing to all employees. It would also trace contacts for any covid-19 cases.
Last year, Voisey’s Bay mine produced 25,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.