Inco plans Voisey’s start-up for late 1999

Michael Sopko, chairman of Inco (N-T), told shareholders at the recent annual meeting that the Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt project in Labrador is turning out to be “all we had expected . . . and more.”

In addition to the Ovoid, Eastern Deeps and Western Extension areas of the deposit, Inco has discovered an additional zone beneath the Western Extension, where assays range from 1.2 to 2.8% nickel. Drilling is continuing at the new target in an effort to amass data for a resource calculation.

Sopko said more discoveries are possible, “even likely,” as drilling has tested less than 5% of its claims at Voisey’s Bay.

Inco expects to produce the first concentrate in late 1999 and the first refined nickel in late 2000, with full production slated for 2001.

Preliminary engineering and construction planning for the mine-mill and smelter-refinery complex is ongoing, and environmental studies and permitting are moving forward. The project is expected to be the first to have to comply with the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

Negotiations with government and the Innu and Inuit nations are continuing, and Sopko said the company is committed to reaching agreements that are “fair to the parties concerned.”

On the financial front, Inco reported earnings of US$58 million for the first quarter, compared with US$26 million in the same period in 1996. This year’s results include an after-tax gain of US$36 million from the sale of Inco Engineered Products.