No sale agreement has been reached. Vale New Caledonia Nickel and Cobalt Plant may be closed.

SMM9 March 9: it is reported that due to the inability to reach an agreement with NCZ (New Century Resources Limited) on the sale of New Caledonia Nickel assets VNC (Noveelle Caledonie SAS), Vale said that it will take the necessary measures to overhaul VNC to deal with potential shutdown risks, and Vale is still looking for a solution.

VNC owns the Goro nickel / cobalt mine, where production began in 2011 and its processing plant has a designed production capacity of up to 57000 tons per year, while the refinery is designed to produce 80% of nickel oxide and 20% mixed hydroxide, and cobalt is also produced in the form of cobalt carbonate.

The VNC mine produced 23400 tons of nickel in 2019, down from 32500 tons in 2018.

Vale, the world's largest nickel producer, with operations in Brazil, Canada and Indonesia, as well as New Caledonia in the south-west Pacific, produced 208000 tons of finished nickel in 2019.

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