Voisey's Bay shipments halted amid Vale Inco-N.L. dispute

Vale Inco has stopped shipping concentrate from its Voisey's Bay mine in northern Labrador, as a disagreement continues over development of a processing facility in Newfoundland.

Two deadlines have passed for Vale Inco to submit a final report on its plans for using a water-based technology to process concentrate from Voisey's Bay at a planned site in Long Harbour, Placentia Bay.

Earlier this week, Vale Inco instructed employees not to ship any more concentrate from its Labrador mine. Until the Long Harbour plant is built, Vale Inco is processing the nickel concentrate at facilities elsewhere in Canada.

Darryn Cove, the president of the United Steelworkers union local, said workers believe Vale Inco is getting cold feet over its $2-billion plans to build a hydrometallurgical plant in Long Harbour.

"There are talks with the government on the Long Harbour project and the lack of commitment by the company to give a commitment for the go-ahead on the project," Cove said.

Vale Inco public affairs official Bob Carter denies that, and said the stop in concentrate shipments is an agreement the company has made while the final Long Harbour plan is unresolved.

"We remain fully committed to a processing plant in Long Harbour. That commitment hasn't changed and we are hoping to begin construction as soon as we can, in the spring," Carter told CBC News.

The company was originally expected to deliver a final package on Long Harbour by Dec. 31. Government provided the company with a three-week extension because it evidently had problems with a draft version.

Neither the government nor the company will identify what the outstanding issues are. The Long Harbour plant has already passed environmental scrutiny.

Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale is not commenting on the matter.