On September 23, Brazilian mining titan Vale SA announced the commissioning of two large nickel projects, Vale New Caledonia (VNC), formerly Goro, and Onça Puma.
VNC's commissioning phase is almost complete, with repairs and design changes of part of the refinery's internal columns being made. The resulting nickel solution from High Pressure Acid Leaching has been transformed into an intermediate product, Nickel Hydroxide Cake, which is being sold to clients.
This marks the beginning of the production cycle of the upstream units of VNC while the repairs and other work will be completed by the end of this year.
In relation to Onça Puma, the commissioning phase will be completed by the end of this month and will be followed by the beginning of the ramp-up period in October 2010. Commercial production is expected to commence in January 2011.
VNC is the largest operation in the world based on a nickel laterite limonite deposit, located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, with an estimated nominal production capacity of 60,000 metric mt per year of nickel contained in nickel oxide and 4,600 metric mt of cobalt as a by-product.
Onça Puma is a nickel operation built on deposits of nickel laterite saprolite in the Brazilian state of Pará, with an estimated nominal production capacity of 58,000 metric mt per year of nickel contained in ferronickel, its final product.