Nickel Miner Prony Plans to Restart New Caledonia Production – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Nickel miner Prony Resources New Caledonia has brought staff back to the site as it prepares to restart production after a six-month shutdown triggered by unrest in the French territory.

The company, which operates the Goro mine and a plant that produces battery-grade nickel, brought workers back to the sites on Monday, a spokesman said. The company is now in a position to prepare to resume operations, the spokesperson said.

The company is one of three major nickel producers in New Caledonia, a remote archipelago in the South Pacific. Local industry is vital to the island’s economy, but it was on the brink of collapse last year due to a collapse in prices triggered by a boom in Indonesian manufacturing.

This year, the worst civil unrest on the islands in decades has worsened the situation, damaging mines and disrupting production at processing plants. The French government is still seeking a deal to put the sector on a more stable footing, with the help of subsidies and investments in renewable energy.

The spokesman said Prony aims to return to production of 3,500 tonnes of product per month, but could not yet confirm the planned restart date. The facility produces NHC, a mixture of nickel and cobalt chemicals used in electric vehicle batteries.

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