Vale Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant

Client: Vale

Location: Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Map showing the location of Vale Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant

Executive Summary

Fluor performed engineering, procurement and construction management services for the Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant built by Vale. The plant produces 50,000 tonnes per year of finished nickel product, together with associated cobalt and copper products.

Client's Challenge

Brazil-based Vale is the second-largest mining company in the world. Vale's objective for the nickel processing plant is to process concentrate from the mine/concentrator in northern Labrador to produce finished nickel product and associated cobalt and copper products.

The project was built on a partially brownfield site near the port of Long Harbour. The plant footprint includes concentrate offloading, crushing and grinding facilities located near the wharf; the main processing plant located approximately 2 km south of the port facility; a pipeline to supply process water; an effluent discharge pipe and diffuser into the harbor; and a residue pipeline into a nearby disposal area.

The plant site houses a complex process in which concentrate is pressure-leveled in acidic solutions to separate iron, sulfur and other impurities from nickel, copper and cobalt.

Project execution included commitment to a transparent procurement process and promotion of local businesses; critical success factors were high levels of productivity, on-time and under-budget completion and labor stability.

Fluor's Solution

We performed engineering, procurement and construction management services for Vale's Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant. The plant comprises a port site and a plant site and was completed in 2013.

The port site facilities are concentrate and limestone offloading facilities and storage, a limestone kiln, concentrate and limestone grinding, sulfuric acid storage and distribution, non-process buildings and utilities, a pipe corridor and an access road to the process plant.

Process facilities are a pressure oxidation plant that includes an oxygen plant; LRT/CCD; solvent extraction; cadmium removal; and nickel; copper; and cobalt electrowinning. Associated facilities are water and sewage treatment plants, non-process buildings and utilities, residue storage, roads and pipelines and temporary facilities for use during construction only.

Vale is committed to providing a safe work environment for all employees and subcontractors. As part of that commitment, the companies produced a safety video to be shown to all employees working on the project.

Conclusion

We delivered to Vale a plant that processes concentrate from the Voisey's Bay mine/concentrator in northern Labrador to produce 50,000 tonnes per year of finished nickel product together with associated cobalt and copper products.