Construction begins on $2.2B nickel plant in Long Harbour

[LONG HARBOUR, NL] - After years of preparation and anticipation, work has finally begun on the latest megaproject to come to Newfoundland and Labrador - a US$2.2-billion nickel processing plant at Long Harbour. 

Demolition work at the old ERCO phosphorous plant and site clearing is now underway to make way for the nickel plant. The project is moving forward despite a worldwide recession and agruments from those opposed to the use of a nearby pond for the disposal of residue from the hydromet plant, which will be the first commercial operation of its kind in the world. The technology was refined at a unique demonstration plant in nearby Placentia.

Vale Inco spokesman Bob Carter provided an update to reporters at Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador’s corporate offices in St. John’s on Monday. He was joined by project director Rinaldo Stefan, construction manager Dan Donnelly, Don Stevens, who will be general manager of the processing plant, and Tom Paddon, general manager of the company’s Labrador operations and interim president of Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador.

Construction officially began on Monday and is expected to peak in 2011, when some 1,600 tradespeople will be working at the site. There will be a significant need for skilled tradespeople to build a processing plant that will be nearly one kilometre long and a half-kilometre wide, Donnelly said, singling out pipefitters and electricians as key trades needed.

Commissioning of the new plant, which will employ roughly 450 people, is scheduled for February 2013. The plant will produce some 50,000 tonnes of nickel annually from concentrate shipped in from the company’s mine in Voisey’s Bay, Labrador.

This is all taking place within sight of Long Harbour and Mount Arlington Heights, a tiny community of less than 300 people in Placentia Bay. The town and surrounding area has fallen on hard economic times since the closure of the phosphorous plant, but is now expected to undergo a major resurgence as heavy industry returns for the first time in two decades.

The procurement process is well underway, with contracts already awarded to three Newfoundland companies. Some 45 major construction contracts are up for grabs, and the first of 270-plus construction permits have been issued.

The company recently acquired roughly 1,500 hectares of land from the province, the Long Harbour Development Corp., and Rhodia, a chemical company which took over the ERCO property. The company is expected to acquire additional land once a handful of illegal cabins are removed in the coming weeks.

Those hoping to land a construction job at the site need not apply to Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador, the company behind the colossal project. You must first be a member in good standing of a union represented by the province’s resource development trades council, which represents a long list of trade unions. The company has a collective agreement with the council. “Anybody who is looking to work on the site will have to be a member of one of the building trades unions,” says Carter. “They will be taking in people who are qualified and providing us with skilled labour.”

The collective agreement includes a no strike/no lock-out clause and a diversity fund designed to enhance opportunities for women in non-traditional occupations. The council has advised the company it will be able to meet the labour needs of the project, Carter adds.

The company has signed an industrial benefits and employment agreement with the province that requires the company to give first consideration to workers and companies from this province.

The company has been receiving hundreds of calls from job seekers, officials say. That’s in contrast to a year ago, when there were real concerns that labour shortages might delay the project. The economic downturn in places such as Alberta and Ontario, and the downsizing or cancellation of projects in this province, is freeing up a large pool of workers for Long Harbour, company officials acknowledged.

“That should be of benefit to us as we move forward,” says Carter.