Voisey's Bay Media Coverage.
INCO and the provincial government are reportedly aiming to hammer out a deal on the Voisey's Bay Project in the next eight to ten weeks.
Reporter: Gerry Phelan
Date: 98/04/30
Gerry Phelan: INCO and the provincial government are reportedly aiming to hammer out a deal on the Voisey's Bay Project in the next eight to ten weeks. A new round of intense negotiations apparently began this week. INCO President Scott Hand is said to be personally involved.
Hand and the province will try and iron out details of taxes, electricity costs, and the size of the project by the end of June. They will also try and come up with a Memorandum of Understanding that will lead to a mining permit. A spokesperson for Voisey's Bay Nickel aays INCO is not commenting on its discussions with the province.
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The Labrador Innu have gone into the catering business at Voisey's Bay.
01 CBC Radio - Labrador Morning
Reporter: Bill Hall
Date: 98/04/27
Bill Hall: The Labrador Innu have gone into the catering business at Voisey's Bay. A company jointly owned by the two band councils and a St. John's based catering firm has been feeding the 70 workers at the northern Labrador exploration site. A spokesperson for Labrador Catering Incorporated says if the Innu holds more protests at Voisey's Bay, the company will continue to honor it's contract.
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Labrador MP, Lawrence O'Brien has broken ranks with his provincial colleagues over the Voisey's Bay issue.
13 NTV - Evening New
Reporter: Lynn Burry
Date: 98/04/29
Lynn Burry: Labrador MP, Lawrence O'Brien has broken ranks with his provincial colleagues over the Voisey's Bay issue. He says that Labrador may suffer because of the Province's insistence that a mine will only go ahead if there is a smelter. Lawrence O'Brien says the people of Labrador don't want to see the project delayed because of the demands of the Island portion of the province. The Provincial Government has stated that the Ore can stay in the ground unless Inco agrees to proceed with a smelter. The project is now delayed and there is no sign of much changing in the near future. That's the situation that has prompted Labrador Liberal MP, Lawrence O'Brien to write the Premier. He says he understands that the provincial government wants to maximize benefits but he fears Labrador will miss out on what he calls a Labrador project. Perry Canning is a Provincial MHA from Labrador and he doesn't like what his Federal counterpart is saying.
Perry Canning: I do believe that it will lead to a problem for us. The fact of the matter is we have a Senior Politician in this province a politician of Labrador suggesting some how that we should allow Ontario to process ore from this province that is something like what we used to do with our cod, sending cod blocks away to Boston to have it processed, it's something untenable , I can't support and I don't think the majority of people in my riding support it either.
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Two politicians representing Labrador are at odds on the development of Voisey's Bay.
14 CBC TV - Here & Now
Reporter: Doug Letto
Date: 98/04/29
Doug Letto: Two politicians representing Labrador are at odds over the development of Voisey's Bay. Lawrence O'Brien wants the province to back off on demands to a build a smelter in Argentia. MHA Perry Canning has written to the premier on this issue. The letter says that unless they (Inco) build a smelter it may harm the interests of people in Labrador. But the MHA for Labrador West can't believe the comments issued by O'Brien. Canning says none of his constituents are behind this sentiment and suggests the government put the interests of Labrador ahead of the provinces a whole.
Perry Canning: This is just wrong. It's the wrong position it take. You can't in the face of these global companies, these multi-national companies, stand up and begin to divide one another on the basis of trying to negotiate something. Look, the same can be said that perhaps Inco will come around next and say we can't afford the aboriginal peoples, then do we allow them to go ahead then? We have to continue the path we're on.
Doug Letto: Canning says Labrador will also lose out if Inco doesn't build a smelter in Newfoundland. He says without it, Inco will probably mine the nickel for a years and move on.
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Labrador MP & MHA have different view of Voisey's Bay
Evening Telegram
Reporter: CRAIG JACKSON
Date: 98/04/30
Two Labrador Liberal politicians - one federal and one provincial - aren't seeing eye to eye these days.
Labrador West MHA Perry Canning issued a news release Wednesday countering the views that Labrador MP Lawrence O'Brien holds on the proposed smelter/refinery for Voisey's Bay ore.
O'Brien questions the province's hardline position on the smelter/refinery for Argentia and how that may affect mining of the nickel, cobalt and copper deposit at Voisey's Bay.
Canning is sour about O'Brien's position in an April 28 letter to Premier Brian Tobin.
O'Brien, who could not be reached Wednesday for comment, questions the province's policy that dictates there'll be no mine or mill at Voisey's Bay unless the smelter/refinery is built.
The Liberal MP said he understands the desire to maximize returns from Voisey's Bay and mine owner Inco Ltd. but he wants assurances the province's stance won't jeopardize the entire project.
O'Brien goes on to say in the letter that Labradorians were disappointed that a more convincing case wasn't made to have the smelter/refinery built in Labrador.
He also suggests a delay in mining the Voisey's Bay find may cause world consumers to purchase the minerals elsewhere.
Labradorians want to see the mine proceed, O'Brien said, but "we do not want to see this Labrador project delayed, and this Labrador resource squandered, because it did not meet the economic demands and interests placed on it by the island of Newfoundland."
O'Brien said Labrador's interests must take precedence if the province's 'no mine-no smelter'position is untenable.
"The Member of Parliament for Labrador is not saying that we should build a smelter in Labrador," Canning told reporters Wednesday outside the House of Assembly.
O'Brien has taken the position that Voisey's Bay minerals be shipped to Inco's Sudbury, Ont., operations because he thinks it makes economic sense to do so, Canning said.
"I say if that's the case - let it stay in the ground until it makes sense to process it here," Canning said.
The Labrador West MHA said he's confident not all Labradorians support O'Brien's position.
If the province were to move forward as O'Brien suggests, Inco would mine the nickel, cobalt and copper for four or five years, creating about 300 or 400 jobs, then Voisey's Bay would be closed, Canning said.
"The only way we're going to get 1,400 jobs in Voisey's Bay is to have an underground mine, which means we have to have infrastructure to cause them to stay around," he said.
"Otherwise, we're going to be stuck with a gravel pit."
While Canning agrees he would like to see a smelter/refinery built in Labrador, Voisey's Bay is designed to benefit the entire province, he said.
The province must continue its path and say to companies that if they want to take advantage of Newfoundland's resources, the resource must be processed here, he said.
Placentia-St. Mary's Liberal MHA Anthony Sparrow is also concerned about O'Brien's position, saying the MP's comments are short-sighted and self-serving.
Argentia, which is within Placentia-St. Mary's district, was chosen as the best site for a smelter/refinery by Inco, Sparrow said, adding Inco made its decision without duress and chose Argentia over many other potential locations.
"Now, in his own attempt to muster a few short-sighted jobs, Mr. O'Brien wants to forget maximizing benefits and jobs for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians by abandoning the Argentia smelter and refinery," Sparrow said.
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Expectations lower, but Voisey's deal coming
Evening Telegram
Reporter: CHRIS FLANAGAN
Date: 98/04/30
Inco and Newfoundland can expect to hammer out a deal on the Voisey's Bay project in the next eight to 10 weeks, says a source close to the talks, but Inco will likely have to reduce the amount of nickel it has indicated it plans to produce.
A new round of intense negotiations began this week, the source said on condition of anonymity, when Inco sent in president Scott Hand to take on the Voisey's Bay file. Hand's responsibilities changed at the beginning of this month from operations to all new projects including Voisey's Bay, Goro and the expansion of PT Inco in Indonesia.
Hand and the province - led by federal negotiator Bill Rowat - will try to iron out details of taxes, electricity costs and the size of the nickel-copper-cobalt project by the end of June and come up with a memorandum of understanding that will lead to a mining permit.
Inco will also learn Friday whether or not the joint Voisey's Bay environmental committee has accepted its environmental impact statement (EIS) and if the process will move forward to public hearings.
Inco has been telling the province the Voisey's Bay project is not as economically feasible as it once was and warning it may have to reconsider building a $1.4-billion smelter and refinery at Argentia - something the province has always insisted on as a condition for a mining permit.
Two weeks ago, The Evening Telegram reported the major U.S. investment house Goldman Sachs had issued a report indicating the project was no longer economically viable as it stood.
But the province will argue Voisey's Bay will provide a reasonable rate of return to shareholders - albeit with nickel production lower than the 270 million pounds per year proposed by Inco two years ago, the source said.
"That amount is almost physically impossible," the source said.
Production could be maintained while the nickel-rich ovoid structure is mined - over about seven years at that rate - but not when they switch to underground mining, where nickel is in lower concentrations.
"The 270 million pounds was supposed to discourage anybody from adding nickel capacity anywhere else in the world. It was supposed to scare everybody off," the source said.
If that was the plan, it didn't work. New projects were fast-tracked in Australia and world production continues to increase, in a market of declining prices.
These are the points the province will put forth in its discussions with Inco, the source said.
Here's what has apparently taken place so far in the negotiations:
- Inco has presented documents indicating the project is not economically viable in its current form and proposed several options including smelting and refining less ore; and smelting the ore in Sudbury, Ont. (where there is overcapacity) and refining it in Asia, where Inco has an interest in facilities.
- the province has rejected Inco's arguments, stating the $4.3 billion purchase price can not be factored into the equation because it is money spent and it represents a strategic investment rather than a purchase based on market price. (In her market report on Inco, Goldman Sachs' Amy Gassman stated "we were disappointed that Inco management did not write down a portion of the asset.")
- the province has brought in its own consultants and is arguing Inco's escalated capital costs are "flat-out padding," and that Inco's cost calculation methods are flawed.
"(The province) thinks they were trying to pull the wool over our eyes," the source said.
Serious discussions are expected to begin at the end of May or beginning of June, when Hand gets up to speed.
A spokesman for Voisey's Bay Nickel Company said Inco is not commenting on its discussions with the province. A spokesman for Premier Brian Tobin's office said he was on his way from Calgary to Toronto Wednesday afternoon and was not available for comment.
If the project does proceed at a slower pace it will mean fewer jobs for Newfoundland, but the jobs will likely last a longer period.
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