Voisey�s Bay ore will be processed in Newfoundland and Labrador

Mines and Energy Minister Walter Noel today reiterated that no unprocessed ore from Voisey�s Bay will leave Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Inco Limited reached an agreement for the development of Voisey�s Bay on October 7, 2002. In the agreement, Inco committed to build a mine and mill/concentrator at the Voisey�s Bay site, a processing facility at Argentia and an innovation centre at Memorial University.

"No raw ore will be shipped out of this province," said Minister Noel. "Ore from Voisey�s Bay will be processed into a nickel concentrate in Newfoundland and Labrador before being shipped elsewhere for further processing. In addition, no concentrate will be permitted to leave the province until the hydromet demonstration processing facility at Argentia is operational in 2006. Once the demonstration processing facility is operational, government will then allow some concentrate to be shipped out of the province to help the company finance the construction of their commercial processing facility at Argentia which will be operational in 2011.

"All of the nickel concentrate permitted to be shipped elsewhere for processing in the early years of the project will have to be returned for processing to a finished nickel metal product in this province. This was our commitment to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and this was what we achieved."

Media contact: Darrell Mercer, Communications, (709) 729-5777.

2003 03 03                                         3:50 p.m.