Voisey’s Bay

In 1996, Inco acquired the rights to the Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt deposits located on the eastern edge of a vast expanse of northern wilderness 300 km north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada.

In June 2002, Inco, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Voisey's Bay Nickel Company Limited (VBNC), and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador jointly announced an agreement in principle on a $1.9 billion (Cdn. $2.9 billion) plan to develop the Voisey's Bay deposit. The negotiated agreements entered into in early October 2002 consisted of a Development Agreement and an Industrial and Employment Benefits Agreement.

Three years later, in the fall of 2005, operations in Labrador came on stream some eight months ahead of schedule. Currently, concentrate from Voisey’s Bay is being shipped to VALE Inco’s Ontario Operations in Sudbury and Manitoba Operations in Thompson, Manitoba for processing.

A commercial processing plant is scheduled to commence operation in Newfoundland in 2011.

Building Strong Relationships

The Voisey's Bay project is very much about relationships, including partnerships with the federal and provincial governments, and uniquely with aboriginal communities.
In hiring for our Labrador operations, we are committed to giving first consideration to aboriginals, Labradorians and Newfoundlanders. And we intend to ensure that benefits resulting from all aspects of the project are maximized for the province and its people.

Impacts and Benefits Agreements (IBAs) signed by Inco and the Innu Nation and Labrador Inuit Association cover a wide range of topics including industrial and employment opportunities, environmental protection, education and training, and protection of aboriginal social and cultural values.

For more information about Voisey’s Bay, including detailed information on social responsibility performance, please visit www.vbnc.com.

Investing in the Community

VBNC supports communities in Newfoundland and Labrador through sponsorship and donations to local organizations. Highlights include the following contributions:

The company has committed $13 million (Cdn $20 million) to Memorial University for the development and operation of the Inco Innovation Centre at its St. John's campus. The Centre will enable Memorial's scientists, engineers and senior students to develop leading edge technologies to support advanced exploration techniques and provide support to chemical process engineering at Voisey's Bay.

We contributed $10 million (Cdn. $15 million) to help build the Labrador Health Centre in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador. The new facility, which opened in 2000, boasts 30 beds and provides 24-hour care in acute, primary and secondary health services to some 14,000 residents of central and northern Labrador communities.

Environmental Protection

Protecting the environment has been a priority since the earliest planning stages of the Voisey’s Bay project. It underwent one of the most comprehensive environmental assessments in Canadian mining history and operates with environmental preservation as a front-of-mind value.

Areas of focus include air water and land, including wildlife and fish. A lot of sampling is done to measure for impacts and management programs are in place to ensure that potential impacts are minimized.