21°00′29″S 164°43′48″E / 21.008°S 164.73°E
| Location | |
|---|---|
| North Province | |
| Country | New Caledonia |
| Production | |
| Products | Ferronickel |
| History | |
| Opened | 2014 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) |
| Website | smsp.nc[1] |
The Koniambo mine is a large open pit mine of the laterite variety in the north of New Caledonia in the North Province.[2] It is closest to the small town of Voh, on the west coast of the island. Nickel is found in saprolite ore on the Koniambo Massif,[2] and taken by conveyor to a new smelter on the coast. Koniambo has one of the largest nickel reserves in New Caledonia, with around 151 million tonnes of ore grading at 2.58% nickel,[3] which was in 2014 reputed to be the highest-grade undeveloped property in the world.[2] Each 62.5 million tonnes of ore contains 4 million tonnes of nickel metal.[3] The final output of the mine is ferronickel, approximately 176,000t per annum of which is produced in shot form.[2] The shot is packaged into two-tonne bags for onward shipment.[2] The projected mine life from first exploitation is 25 years.[2] A deep water private port was built for import and export purposes.[2]
- ^ "Major Mines & Projects | Koniambo Mine".
- ^ a b c d e f g "Koniambo Nickel Project".
- ^ a b "Nickel-97". societechimiquedefrance.fr. 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2013-06-26.