Nickel miner Prony plans for restart of New Caledonia production

Nickel miner Prony Resources New Caledonia has brought its staff back onsite as it prepares to restart output after a six-month suspension triggered by riots in the French territory. The company, which operates the Goro mine and a plant producing battery-grade nickel, returned workers to facilities on Monday, a spokesperson said. It’s now in a position to prepare to resume activities, the spokesperson said. The company is one of three major nickel producers in New Caledonia, a remote archipelago in the South Pacific. The local industry is vital to the islands’ economy, but was pushed to the brink of collapse by a slump in prices last year that was triggered by a boom in Indonesian production. This year, the islands’ worst civil unrest in decades worsened the situation, damaging mines and disrupting output at processing plants. The French government is still seeking a deal to put the industry on a steadier footing, with the help of subsidies and investment in renewable energy. Prony aims to return to output of 3 500 tons of product a month, though it couldn’t yet confirm a planned restart date, the spokesperson said. The plant makes so-called NHC, a mix of nickel and cobalt chemicals that are used in electric-vehicle batteries.