Environmental & Aboriginal Issues Stall Huge Voisey Bay Nickle Development
10/9/96
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Environment, aboriginal issues stall Voisey's production
Copyright 1996 by Reuters
10/9/96
VOISEY'S BAY, Labrador (Reuter) - Production at the huge nickel deposit at
Voisey's Bay, a C$4.3 billion ($3.2 billion project in remote Labrador, is years
away but already it risks falling behind schedule because of environmental
issues and pressure from aboriginal groups.
Inco Ltd., the Toronto-based nickel giant that won control of the spectacular
nickel, copper and cobalt property after a bidding war last spring, had
originally planned to start open pit production by 1998 and full-scale
underground mining by 2000.
But now, because of the unexpected length of the environmental permit process,
the first concentrate from the Ovoid open pit mine is expected to be ready by
the fourth quarter of 1999, Inco said in new mine and mill proposal.
Full production from the underground mine is still expected to start in the year
2000, the company said.
But the schedule will be tight.
"They essentially lost round one with respect to getting the project up and
running by 1998," Peter Penashue, who heads the aboriginal Innu group in the
Voisey's Bay area, said in a recent interview near Goose Bay, Labrador.
Inco agreed last month to withdraw its requests for a short environmental
process.
"We could have done it by 1998 if we could have avoided a full-fledged
(environmental) panel," Herb Clark, vice-president of corporate affairs for
Inco's Voisey's Bay Nickel Co. said in St. John's, Newfoundland.
Speedy development is crucial partly because Inco wants production as soon as
possible to make a return on the C$4.3 billion ($3.2 billion) it spent to take
over the project.
The project's output is so big that production of 270 million pounds a year of
nickel and 200 million pounds a year of copper is expected to upset the balance
of the world's metal markets.
Pressure from local aboriginal communities and the Newfoundland government has
forced Inco to request a full environmental approval process, which will likely
include public hearings, he said.
The Innu, who live south of Voisey's Bay and use the area to hunt, fish and
camp, as well as the Inuit -- or Eskimos -- who live close to and north of
Voisey's Bay, have campaigned for an extensive environmental review before
mining starts.
The process is expected to wind up by the spring of 1998, and construction
cannot begin without environmental approvals.
"It's a matter of finding an appropriate balance, but time is of the essence,"
Clark said.
"The shareholders who have accepted the arrangement did so in anticipation of an
early startup date," said Voisey's Bay Nickel spokesman Rick Gill.
Timing is delicate because Voisey's Bay is frozen in for more than five months
of the year, and constantly buffeted by vicious winds. Construction and
development must be planned carefully around the whimsical sub-Arctic weather.
The aboriginal groups who live and hunt in the barren Voisey's Bay area are also
worried about time.
"They're going too fast. It's an unprecedented pace," said William Barbour,
president of the Labrador Inuit Association. "For us, we feel really closed in,
almost claustrophobic. We're just not ready for it. That's why we keep pushing
Inco to slow it down."
The aboriginal communities have a powerful weapon that could hinder or even stop
Inco's plan to develop Voisey's Bay.
Both the Inuit and the Innu hold outstanding land claims to the area and are in
the midst of settling the claims with the provincial and federal governments,
which will give them more control over resource development.
The aboriginals are also preparing to negotiate impact and benefits agreements
with Inco.
"The kind of pressure that's out there, we won't buckle to it," vowed Toby
Andersen, who handles land claims for the Labrador Inuit Association. "We won't
just settle because Inco says they want to start mining in 1999."
Both groups want a settlement with the government before they give mining the
green light, but they may consider allowing Inco to proceed without a government
land claims deal as long as Inco signs an impact and benefits agreement.
"I feel we don't have the power to stop Inco because of the money involved, but
we do have the power to delay for several years, at a high cost to Inco," said
Penashue.
Government negotiators aim to have an agreement in principle by March 1997, and
Inco expects to have agreements in place by the end of the year.
The Inuit feel they can probably meet those timelines, but the Innu say the
dates are unrealistic.