Vale: the Goro Nickel-Cobalt Mine in New Caledonia will be closed in 2021

SMM10, March 12 / PRNewswire-FirstCall-Asianet /-- Luciano Siani Pires, Vale's chief financial officer, said last Thursday that its nickel-cobalt mine in Goro, New Caledonia, would be closed in 2021.

In early September, it was reported that there was a possibility of closure of the Vale New Caledonian Nickel-Cobalt Plant due to the inability to reach an agreement with NCZ (New Century Resources Limited) on the sale of New Caledonian Nickel assets VNC (Noveelle Caledonie SAS).

"Vale and the exclusive period of resources in the new century ends the transaction of nickel assets in New Caledonia fails.

Production of the Goro nickel / cobalt mine held by VNC began in 2011 and its processing plant has a designed production capacity of up to 57000 tons per year, while the refinery has a designed production capacity of 80 per cent of nickel oxide and 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.

Luciano Siani Pires, Vale's chief financial officer, said the mine had a target capacity of 40, 000 tonnes of nickel and 2500 tonnes of cobalt.