Voisey's Bay has one of the largest nickel deposits in the world. Located on the north coast of Labrador, about 35km south of Nain, Voisey's Bay has been producing nickel from an open-pit operation since 2005.
The transition from open-pit to underground involves the development of two underground mines - Reid Brook and Eastern Deeps - extending the life of Vale's Labrador operations well into the future. The underground mines will produce 40,000t of nickel in concentrate at a peak production rate of 2.6Mt/y.
Ore produced at Voisey's Bay is processed at Vale's hydrometallurgical facility in Long Harbour, Newfoundland. Vale said that the nickel, copper and cobalt products produced at Long Harbour will help meet future customer demand in the electric vehicle and clean energy space as industry and the world seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower carbon footprints.
Mark Travers, executive vice-president for base metals with Vale, said: "Our Voisey's Bay operations, and indeed our entire operating footprint in Newfoundland and Labrador, represent an incredible story of Indigenous participation, economic capacity building, environmental responsibility and safety performance. We look forward to continuing that proud tradition as our mine expansion effort moves forward."
The Voisey's Bay mine is a multiple winner of the John T. Ryan award recognising the safest mine performance in Canada, and received the award again in 2021. Faced with the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, the mine expansion project followed suit, reaching first ore production with zero lost time injuries since construction began in 2018.
Vale said that Indigenous participation is another hallmark of the Voisey's Bay operation; it added that the company is a proud local operator and enjoys a long and collaborative relationship with its Indigenous partners, Innu Nation and Nunatsiavut Government, on whose traditional lands the Voisey's Bay complex is located.
Since the Voisey's Bay mine expansion project began in 2018, Innu and Nunatsiavut Inuit employment has more than doubled to approximately 500 employees. A further 65% of all procurement contracts for the project were awarded to Indigenous-owned businesses. Vale stated that the ability to mine and process ore from underground will continue to generate local employment, procurement, capacity-building and shared benefit for many years to come.
Travers concluded: "Today's announcement of first ore production heralds another step forward in the continued delivery of quality, predictable and responsibly sourced metals to market with safety, capacity-building and Indigenous participation at the forefront. I couldn't be more pleased or more proud for the future of our operations in Newfoundland and Labrador."
