US Arm plans nickel

factory in New Caledonia

US firm Phelps Dodge, the world’s second largest copper producer, plans to build a nickel factory in the South of New Caledonia in

partnership with a local company. But it has yet to obtain an exploration permit, its Noumea representatives said. Phelps Dodge plans a partnership with the Caledonian firm Ballande, which annually exports 800,000 tonnes of nickel ore.

The company plans to build a factory that would have an annual production of 35,000 tonnes of nickel/metal and 4,000 tonnes of cobalt. The project, named Pronico, would work a 46 square kilometre deposit of laterite (low grade ore) in the South of the island, whose reserves are estimated at several hundred million tonnes.

The factory would process the ore by dissolving it in sulphuric acid under heat and pressure, with overall investment estimated at one billion dollars US. “We have unshakeable faith in the quality of this

project but we are counting on already being in the process of carrying out a feasibility study,” said William Brack, vice-president of engineering at Phelps Dodge.

Ballande had with effect from 1995 lodged a demand with the New Caledonia Mines Service for permission to search for deposits in the South, but so far has not been successful.

Since January 1, allocation of exploration permits has been in the hands of the Caledonian provincial governments. Success depends on the project having the support of local councillors, which has prompted disagreement in the industry.

“We are confident even though, according to the mines service, five other mining firms are candidates to work the deposits. If we obtain the permit, we will be committed to

achieving the feasibility study in four years, maximum. The factory would be built in seven years,” said Ballande group chair and managing director Louis Ballande. Phelps Dodge, based in

Phoenix, Arizona, employs 17,000 people and operates in 27 countries.

Societe Le Nickel, a subsidiary of French group Eramet, operates Noumea’s only metallurgical factory, which has an annual output of 59,000 tonnes of nickel.

Two other factory projects, by Canadian firms Falconbridge and Inco, are expected to come on line in 2005 and 2003 in the North and south of New Caledonia.

New Caledonia is responsible for six per cent of the world’s nickel output, with more than 10 per cent of the territory’s 200,000 population working in the industry.

The French Pacific territory also possesses about 20 to 25 per cent of the world’s nickel reserves, while world production stands at around one million tonnes. ■