The Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant is a Canadian

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

concentrate processing facility located in Long Harbour,

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. Operated by

Vale Limited Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...

, construction on the plant started in April 2009 and operations began in 2014. Construction costs were in excess of CAD $4.25 billion. Construction involved over 3,200 workers generating approximately 3,000 person-years of employment. Operation of the plant will require approximately 475 workers. Production began in July 2014, reported in November 2014. Vale's nickel processing plant in Long Harbour received its first major shipment from its Labrador mine in Voisey's Bay in May 2015. As of that date, a small proportion of the plant's raw materials came from Voisey's Bay but the majority were imported from Indonesia. A spokesman for Vale said 100 per cent of the Long Harbour facility's production materials will come from Voisey's Bay by early 2016. Using the metal processing technology of

hydrometallurgy Hydrometallurgy is a technique within the field of extractive metallurgy, the obtaining of metals from their ores. Hydrometallurgy involve the use of aqueous solutions for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual m ...

, the plant is designed to produce per year of finished nickel product, together with associated cobalt and copper products. The hydrometallurgy technology was piloted at a demonstration plant that opened in

Argentia Argentia ( ) is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which r ...

, Newfoundland and Labrador in 2004. This demonstration plant operated until 2008 and was instrumental in helping Vale decide to use the hydrometallurgy process for the Long Harbour processing plant. A processing plant on

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

was one of the requirements established by the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador refers to the provincial government of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was established by the Newfoundland Act and its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. Lie ...

in order to exploit the nickel deposit at the

Voisey's Bay Mine Voisey's Bay Mine is a nickel mine in Labrador, Canada, near the bay of the same name. The mine is located about southwest of Nain. Nickel deposit A large nickel deposit was discovered in the hills along the western shore of Potato Isla ...

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. The bulk carrier MV ''Umiak I'' was one of several ice-strengthened bulk carriers built to transport nickel concentrate from

Voisey's Bay Voisey's Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Labrador, Canada. The bay is located south of the community of Nain. The bay is heavily indented with numerous inlets and islands and is extremely rocky. It is the site of the Voisey's Bay Mine. ...

to the Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant. The Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant was built on a partially

brownfield site In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

near the port of Long Harbour. The facility consists of a wharf for offloading nickel ore concentrate from bulk carriers, crushing and grinding facilities, a main processing plant approximately south of the port, a pipeline to supply process water, an effluent discharge pipe and diffuser, and a residue pipeline to a nearby disposal area. The hydrometallurgical process in the plant will pressure-leach the nickel ore concentrate in acidic solutions to separate iron, sulfur and other impurities from nickel, copper and cobalt. On June 11, 2018, Premier

Dwight Ball Dwight Ball (born December 21, 1957) is a Canadian politician who was the 13th premier of Newfoundland and Labrador from December 14, 2015, to August 19, 2020, and an MHA. He represented the electoral district of Humber Valley in the Newfoundla ...

announced Vale is moving forward with its underground mine at Voisey's Bay. Ball stated that the move will extend the mine's operating life by at least 15 years. First ore is expected by April 2021 with processing to take place in Long Harbour.

References

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External links

Vale Ltd: Voiseys Bay Development - Processing
Buildings and structures in Newfoundland and Labrador Metallurgical facilities