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Commercial Nickel Processing Plant, Long Harbour, Placentia Bay
LONG HARBOUR; LONG HARBOUR; LONG HARBOUR; LONG HARBOUR (NL)
December 20, 2006 (Update) --
Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada will conduct a screening commencing on November 3, 2006 of the project:
Commercial Nickel Processing Plant, Long Harbour, Placentia Bay.
The Proposal is to construct, operate and eventually decommission a nickel processing plant at Long Harbour, NL. If the hydromet process is shown to be technically and economically feasible, Voisey's Bay Nickel Company (VBNC) will design, construct, operate and maintain a hydromet plant with a design capacity of 50,000 tonnes of finished nickel product together with associated cobalt and copper products. Should the hydromet plant prove not to be technically and economically feasible, VBNC will construct an alternative hydrometallurgical facility for processing nickel-bearing matte. Construction for both options will include a water supply, a wharf, access roads, laydown areas, preparation and process buildings, storage structures, and pipelines to transport water, raw materials, reagents, and waste products. The waste stream from the hydromet plant is reactive and will require sub-aqueous disposal while the waste stream from the matte plant is primarily gypsum and can be disposed of on land at a properly designed site. Treated effluent from both options will be discharged to the marine environment.
The responsible authorities have scoped the project to include the
' Construction and operation of the wharf expansion (including infilling and dredging); the dam and intake in Rattling Brook Big Pond; the dam(s) on Sandy Pond and an unnamed pond, the outfall in the marine environment; and the stream crossing structures;
' Drawdown of Rattling Brook Big Pond/Rattling Brook as a result of water extraction;
' Deposition of residue in Sandy Pond;
' Use of the unnamed pond as a clarification pond;
' Infilling of several unnamed ponds;
' Diversion of a portion of the watershed
Under section 5 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, an EA is required for this project because Fisheries and Oceans Canada may issue a permit or license under paragraphs 36(5)(a) to (e), where the regulation made pursuant to those paragraphs contains a provision that limits the application of the regulation to a named site of the Fisheries Act and may issue a permit or license under subsection 35(2) of the Fisheries Act and because Transport Canada may provide federal lands for the purpose of enabling this project to be carried out and may issue an approval under paragraph 5(1)(a) of the Navigable Waters Protection Act.
This project is also being assessed by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency will act as the Federal Environmental Assessment Coordinator for this environmental assessment.
For further information on this environmental assessment, please contact:
DFO - CEA Registry Office - Newfoundland Region
P.O. Box 5667
St-John's NL A1C 5X1
Telephone: (709) 772-7026
Fax: (709) 772-5562
Email: CEAR_NL@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
and refer to CEAR reference number 06-01-23173
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