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Gold/Mining/Energy : Inco-Voisey Bay Nickel [ T.N.V] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Winer who wrote (189)	2/27/1998 11:04:00 AM
From: Winer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1615

CBC Regional News - Monday, February 23, 1998 PM NEWS The Voisey's Bay mine should go ahead even if Inco doesn't build a nickel smelter in Argentia. That's what a delegation from the Happy Valley - Goose Bay town council wants to tell Premier Brian Tobin later this week. Councillor John Hickey says his town's economy has been sliding steadily in recent months. He says the town needs some help soon. Hickey and Mayor Harry Baikie both admit that council has little chance of changing government policy on this issue. But they say they have the moral support of most of Labrador's communities. The town's delegation hopes to meet separately with both Tobin and the Voisey's Bay Nickel Company on Thursday. ------------------------ Evening Telegram Town needs mine up and running 2/26/98 By GARY HEBBARD The town council of Happy Valley-Goose Bay is urging the province to allow production to start at Voisey's Bay even if there is no smelter in place on the island to refine the ore. Council passed a resolution at its regular meeting earlier this week which will be sent to Inco, all Labrador MHAs, Labrador MP Lawrence O'Brien, the provincial government and the Combined Councils of Labrador. Premier Brian Tobin has said repeatedly that no nickel ore will come out of the ground in Labrador until a smelter is built in Newfoundland to process it. But Mayor Harry Baikie said his town and the rest of Labrador need the work and prosperity the mine will bring and they need it sooner rather than later. "Were losing some of the economic impact the (Canadian Forces) base is having," he said, with recent reductions in personnel and privatization of much of the work done there. CFB Goose Bay is used by several NATO countries to train jet fighter pilots in low-level flight operations. "There's a lot of uncertainty at the moment," Baikie said, "and it's the uncertainty that's creating problems here." The town's resolution is in direct contrast to the feelings of many Newfoundlanders and Baikie said he's aware of that. But he said the spinoffs for Labrador from a smelter located on the island would be small. The main boon to his region will be the mining work at Voisey's Bay. "It's comforting, at least, for the community to see we're at least thinking (ahead)," said Baikie. The Telegram attempted to contact a number of business people in the central Labrador community for their view of the mine-first, smelter-later proposal but found people reluctant to comment. One prominent person who asked not to be identified said there is a lot of tension in the area right now. "The town is rampant with rumors," he said. ------------------------ One Month Delay for Voisey's Hearings 2/25/98 By CHRIS FLANAGAN Business Editor Nickel prices continue to fall. Inco is described as a "sitting duck" by Robert Friedland, one of the company's largest shareholders. Rival mining companies are calling to express an interest in bidding on the nickel giant, Friedland said last week. Can things get any worse for Inco and its subsidiary, Voisey's Bay Nickel Company? Apparently they can. The Voisey's Bay environmental assessment panel announced Monday a one-month delay in the public review period for the Voisey's Bay environmental impact statement (EIS). The two aboriginal groups and provincial and federal governments that established the review procedure agreed to a 30-day extension "after hearing concerns from review participants and the panel." Brian Torrie, the panel manager for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, said Tuesday the panel received letters from the Innu Nation and the federal government asking for an extension. In other words, the company's environmental review was too thick. VBNC delivered its 2,000-page, four-volume document - along with 4,000 pages in supporting documents - to the panel in December but now must wait until June 8 at the earliest for the public hearings to begin. The public review period has been extended to March 31 from March 1 and the panel now has until May 1 to determine the adequacy of the EIS. If the panel finds the EIS adequate, it will hold 45 days of hearings followed by 15 days of review and about 90 days in which it will write a report. That will make it November before VBNC can even think about beginning construction of the mine/mill in Labrador. Inco announced Sept. 19, 1997 construction would not start in 1997 as previously planned due to the rigorous environmental review process. But before Monday's delay, it was at least technically possible the company might have been able to start construction on an airstrip and road before winter set in. Now that appears much less likely. VBNC vice-president Rick Gill said the delay would not have a major impact on the project - but he wouldn't go so far as to say it would have no impact. "The only thing that might have been entertained (this year) was the infrastructure construction," Gill said in St. John's Tuesday. "If we get (environmental approval) by the end of 1998 it probably won't have dramatic effects on our construction starts in 1999." "We still anticipate a release from the environmental review panel for the mine/mill by the end of 1998, assuming there are no major deficiencies." The entire project was still under review from the company's perspective, Gill added. VBNC employees are doing a lot of travelling and communicating these days, he said, primarily in Labrador. But most people aren't asking about the EIS, he said. They're asking about jobs, training and anticipated startup dates. ---------------------- (They are also asking why they are being told to be careful on slippery floors!)