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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 (260)	6/3/1998 5:49:00 PM
From: Winer	Respond to of 1615

From The Financial Post Tue 02 June 1998 Daily Edition Section 1, News Page 5 Paul Bagnell, Mining Reporter Inco submits new material on Voisey's Bay Inco Ltd. has submitted an additional 600 pages of information on its Voisey's Bay nickel project to an environmental panel studying the huge project. Toronto-based Inco produced the material in reply to the panel's request last month for more information and its plans to manage its effects on the environment. Brian Torrie, manager of the panel reviewing Voisey's Bay, said the earliest public hearings on Voisey's Bay can begin is early September. Inco spokesman Jerry Rogers said the firm still believes it will receive all necessary approvals for the project in the first quarter of 1999. Shares of Inco (N/TSE) fell steeply again yesterday, closing down $1.05 to $20, their lowest price since Nov. 11, 1987. Last September, when Inco delayed the project by one year, it cited slow progress in the environmental review as one reason. Production of nickel concentrate from the mine is now expected by late 2000 at the earliest. The new material covers areas such as water and waste management, the potential for mercury contamination and effects on nearby communities. Interested parties have until July 16 to comment on whether Inco's submission -- now about 2,500 pages long -- offers "sufficient information to support meaningful discussion of the issues." Arguments on the merits of Inco's plans won't be received until public hearings begin. The firm is also expected to begin talks soon with Newfoundland on scaling down the project in response to dismal nickel prices. Inco wants the province to soften its demand all Voisey's Bay ore be processed at a smelter-refinery planned for Argentia, near St. John's. A decision, expected soon, from the Federal Court of Canada may further complicate Inco's plans. The court has been asked to rule on whether it is legal for the smelter- refinery to be handled in a separate, less detailed, review than the mine and mill. A group called the Citizens' Mining Council of Newfoundland has asked the court to require a single environment review for both parts of the project. Arguments in the case concluded in March. Burkhard Mausberg, executive director of the Canadian Environmental Defence Fund, said yesterday a decision requiring a single review could further delay the project. The CEDF has financed the case, in which three federal departments are respondents.